Opening Ceremony – ASEAN Summit & Related Summits

On October 9, the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related summits officially opened in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The Meeting commended the Lao PDR for its 2024 ASEAN Chairmanship with the theme “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience. " The Lao government stated that building a more inter-connected and resilient grouping is essential for ASEAN to cope with challenges and grasp opportunities. ASEAN should intensify cooperation under the three community pillars which include promoting infrastructure connectivity, narrowing development gaps, and promoting greater economic integration and people-to-people exchanges ; further strengthening ASEAN’s relations with external partners, while maintaining ASEAN’s relevance and ASEAN centrality in the evolving regional architecture. On October 11, at the closing ceremony, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said that the summits adopted and noted more than 90 outcome documents, which lays a solid foundation for the development of strategic plans to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 with the objective to build a resilient, innovative, dynamic, and people-centered ASEAN Community.