Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) converged here on Saturday to discuss the establishment of the landmark ASEAN Community by Dec. 31 this year and develop a vision for its growth to 2025.[Special coverage]
"We are all here in Kuala Lumpur at a historic moment for the 10-nation association. Tomorrow, we will formally declare the establishment of the ASEAN Community on Dec. 31, 2015," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in his opening remarks.
This marks "the culmination of a decades-long effort to integrate, to cohere and to forge ahead together," he said.
Under the theme "Our People, Our Community, Our Vision," the two-day summit is expected to unveil the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Community.
The 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together is also expected to be endorsed at the end of the summit and related meetings.
Created in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It has evolved from a politico-security pact to embrace an ambitious economic agenda.
