Cambodia PM to attend ASEAN summit in Thailand

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (pictured) will attend the ASEAN summit to be held in the seaside town Hua Hin in Thailand in late February, said an official here on Sunday.

"And the ASEAN meeting with other partners still plays a very important role," Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told reporters.

Hun Sen suggested that other ASEAN members should also consider to participate in the ASEAN summit and the ASEAN meeting with other partners, he added.

On Thursday, the premier told reporters that the ASEAN summit originally scheduled to be held in Thailand in late January should be delayed to later in 2009.

"We want the ASEAN meeting, the ASEAN plus three (China, South Korea and Japan) meeting and the ASEAN plus other partners meeting to be held at the same time in order not to waste time and money. We do not need to separate such meetings," Hun Sen said at a press conference at the National Assembly.

Thailand once planned to hold the ASEAN summit in late January and the meeting of ASEAN plus other partners in April.

Editor: An