ASEAN Foreign Ministers have agreed to continue the implementation of the plan of action (PoA) of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) for five more years, from 2023 to 2027.

The agreement was made here in a SEANWFZ Commission Meeting hosted by Cambodia in Phnom Penh on Aug. 2.

Chaired by H.E Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (55th AMM) and Related Meetings, the SEANWFZ Commission Meeting was to discuss the progress in the implementation of the PoA of SEANWFZ Treaty, the PoA renewal, and ways forward on the Protocol to the SEANWFZ Treaty.

The five-year PoA of SEANWFZ Treaty was made to ensure high efficiency in its implementation, said H.E. Kung Phoak, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, at a daily press conference this evening.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to discuss internally to find solutions to the challenges of the implementation of the PoA, he said.

On Dec. 15, 1995, ASEAN Member States signed the Treaty of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ Treaty) as a commitment to preserve the Southeast Asian region as a region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

Through this Treaty, also known as the Bangkok Treaty, ASEAN reaffirms the importance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and in contributing towards international peace and security.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press