A Cambodian senior official has considered the signing of the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) by seven countries this year as a big milestone during Cambodia’s chairmanship of ASEAN.

This morning, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Dmytro Kuleba inked the Instrument of Accession to TAC, making Ukraine the TAC’s 50th member, under the presidency of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation H.E. Prak Sokhonn and other ASEAN foreign ministers.

Secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) H.E. Kung Phoak said as the host of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in August, Cambodia received six new partners who signed the Accession Instrument and today, there is another one, so this year “we have up to seven (new contracting parties to the TAC).”

“This is a big achievement for Cambodia. This means that in one year we have up to seven partners who are members of this treaty. This is not easy to reach,” he said at a press briefing this morning.

H.E. Kung Phoak said ASEAN is open to all partners, whoever wants to be a partner of ASEAN. We always open and welcome, but usually it needs to go through process, he underlined. 

For Ukraine-ASEAN relations, H.E. Kung Phoak said now is in the early stage, Ukraine may become a new potential partner for mutually beneficial relations.

TAC was established in 1976 and embodies universal principles of peaceful coexistence and friendly cooperation among States in Southeast Asia. It is a legally-binding code for inter-state relations in the region and beyond. The Treaty has been amended three times, in 1987, 1998, and 2010, respectively, to allow for accession by states outside Southeast Asia as well as for regional organisations whose members are sovereign states, among others.

As of November 2022, there are 50 High Contracting Parties to the TAC.

Ukraine has requested to be a party to TAC since August when Cambodia hosted the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) along with the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Greece, the Netherlands, and Denmark, but Ukraine had submitted the request late, therefore it has to wait until today to be able to sign the Instrument of Accession.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press