HIS Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday attended the 14th Asean-India Summit held at the National Convention Centre, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
The summit began with opening remarks by Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic as Chairman of Asean who welcomed all heads of state and government of Asean and Republic of India to the summit.
This was followed by a statement from Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
Thongloun Sisoulith then invited Tran Dai Quang, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as the Country Coordinator for Asean-India Relations to convey his statement.
In the summit, His Majesty delivered a titah, whereby His Majesty was pleased with the progress of the new Plan of Action where over 20 per cent of activities have been carried out during the last eight months. For effective implementation over the next few years, officials are encouraged to work more closely together, making full use of the Asean-India Centre and providing strategic insights to help promote relations.
His Majesty during the 14th Asean-India Summit. – INFOFOTO
His Majesty emphasised the importance of economic initiatives, such as the Asean-India FTA, Trade in Services and Investment agreements which came into force last year, the review of the Goods Agreement, as well as the conclusion of the R-CEP agreement, which will help achieve trade target of 200 billion US dollars by 2022.
Apart from that, private sectors must be made aware of the opportunities created by the initiatives, by organising more interactions between the business people.
Lastly, His Majesty expressed confidence that the activities carried out to commemorate next year’s 25th anniversary of Asean-India relations will deepen mutual understanding and friendship amongst the people.
The post Sultan attends 14th Asean-India Summit appeared first on Borneo Bulletin Online.