Malaysia supports Prak Sokhonn's role as the ASEAN special envoy on Myanmar

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia supports the role of Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn as the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar, and wishes him all the best on his proposed visit to Myanmar in March.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah who attended the two-day ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat (AMM) in Phnom Penh said this in his Facebook post.

"I propose that the Special Envoy also meet with the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) which is a dialogue and policy coordination platform comprising the National Unity Government (NUG), elected Parliamentarians, Political Parties, Interim State Representative Groups, Civil Society and Non-violent Protest Groups, and Armed Groups," said Saifuddin in his post.

The foreign minister also proposed that the Special Envoy to look at the outcome of the Myanmar People's Assembly meeting on Jan 27-29 this year.

He said Malaysia reiterated its full support for ASEAN's 5-Point Consensus (5PCs) on Myanmar. The 5PCs are: end the violence; hold constructive talks among all stakeholders; ASEAN provides aid to Myanmar; a special ASEAN envoy appointed to conduct talks; and the envoy allowed to visit the country.

The AMM Retreat kicked off here on Wednesday in a hybrid format to discuss issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, inclusive economic recovery, and relations with dialogue partners.

The retreat, the first scheduled meeting for the year 2022, was attended in person by foreign ministers of Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Laos, and online by foreign ministers of Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam, while Myanmar did not designate a non-political representative for it.

Cambodia helms the ASEAN chairmanship this year with the theme "ASEAN A.C.T: Addressing Challenges Together".

-- BERNAMA