KUALA LUMPUR

HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam is expected to arrive here today and join Southeast Asian leaders on Monday for the start of the 26th ASEAN Summit, chaired by Malaysia this year.

The summit is expected to address ASEAN’s economic integration aims by the end of the year, when all 10 member states strive to achieve uniformity of rules and procedures and seamless physical, infrastructural and people-to-people connectivity.

The opening ceremony for the two-day summit will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on April 26, while the closing ceremony will take place at the Langkawi International Convention Centre the following day.

According to a media advisory, Malaysia says its key focus as chair is to ensure priority measures and initiatives for the ASEAN Community are in place and the integration process continues progressively beyond 2015. Besides leading ASEAN to achieve these goals this year, Malaysia also sees, as equally important, efforts to develop the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision as a guide for the community to further grow.

Malaysia added that as chairman of ASEAN this year, it will work closely with other member states to ensure the regional grouping delivers key initiatives. Themed ‘Our People, Our Community, Our Vision’, the 26th ASEAN Summit will see Malaysia recommend an enhanced ASEAN Secretariat be deployed to ensure member states work together to craft and implement its post-2015 agenda. ASEAN is currently the seventh largest economy in the world, with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.5 trillion ($3.34 trillion).

The Brunei Times