Prime Minister Hun Sen attends the ASEAN-US summit via video conference in October last year. SPM
ASEAN and the US have decided to postpone their summit originally slated for late March, with officials attributing the delay to the tight schedule of ASEAN leaders.
The US initially set March 28-29 as the date for the summit, with Indonesia acting as the coordinator of the ASEAN-US dialogue partnership.
Chum Sounry, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said on March 10 that the planned summit was proposed by the US and approved by the ASEAN leadership.
He said Indonesian officials had tried their best to coordinate and find date suitable for all.
“Unfortunately, the proposed dates, both from ASEAN and the US, were not convenient for all leaders – due to their respective heavy agendas. For this reason, both ASEAN and the US have decided to postpone the summit. They will continue to work to find a mutually convenient date,” he said.
He added that Cambodia, as ASEAN chair, was flexible with regards to proposed dates and had made special arrangements to its domestic agenda to fulfill its regional and international duties.
“But for the convenience of all leaders, and to ensure the attendance of all of them, Cambodia has agreed to postpone the meeting,” he said.
Heng Kimkong, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland and a visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodia Development Centre, said ASEAN operations and decision making rely on the principles of consultation and consensus; therefore, it was crucial for all ASEAN members to respect these principles to enhance ASEAN centrality.
“A delay to the meeting could be good as it gives sufficient time for ASEAN as a group to work together and reach common decisions regarding the important issues facing the region and the world,” he told The Post on March 10.
On March 7, Prime Minister Hun Sen requested the postponement as the proposed date for the summit had not been agreed between ASEAN and the US.
He said the US first set March 28-29 for the summit, but Indonesia was unable to find a consensus among ASEAN member states.
At the inauguration of the Cambodia-China Friendship Hospital in Tbong Khmum province on March 7, the premier said many ASEAN leaders requested the summit be held on March 26-27, but the dates were not suitable for the US. At the time, three ASEAN leaders also said they could not meet on these dates.
Hun Sen said that as ASEAN chair, he could make himself available any time in March, though not on the originally proposed dates.
He also noted that from mid-May to mid-June, he would be unable to leave the country as Cambodia would be preparing for the June 5 commune council elections.
He hoped that ASEAN and the US would find a suitable time
Separately in a January 14 letter to Hun Sen, US President Joe Biden announced that his administration looked forward to working with Cambodia as chair of ASEAN for 2022.
Biden said that under Cambodia’s ASEAN chairmanship, the US hoped that ASEAN-US relations would continue to grow and to achieve common goals in the region.
