The Foreign Ministers and Vice Foreign Ministers of the 10 ASEAN member countries and ASEAN General Secretary Surin Pitsuwan attended the meetings under the chairmanship of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

At the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the FMs approved many important documents, including the ASEAN Declaration on Cooperation in Research and Rescue of Persons and Vessels in Distress at Sea, the Rules for Reference of Unresolved Disputes to the ASEAN Summit and the Rules of Authorisation for Legal Transactions under Domestic Laws, which are two legal instruments to realise the ASEAN Charter.

They also approved Procedures for the Accreditation of Ambassadors and Establishment of Diplomatic Missions to ASEAN from Non-ASEAN Member States and Relevant Inter-governmental Organisations.

They considered the report by the Chair of the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights on its operations and gave instructions for the commission in the future, including the implementation of the 2010-11 plan and completion of the working plan till 2015, as well as consultations on the drafting of an ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.

At the 7^th Meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting, ministers assessed preparations for the 17^th ASEAN Summit and related summits.

They agreed to submit to ASEAN leaders the Masterplan on ASEAN Connectivity, the draft ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on Human Resources and Skills Development for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Growth and the draft Hanoi Declaration on the Enhancement of Welfare and Development of ASEAN Women and Children.

They gave opinions on statements and cooperation plans between ASEAN and its partners, which amounted to 30 documents and the drafts of seven Chairman’s Statements.

They exchanged views on the outcome of the 6^th ASEAN People’s Forum and agreed to submit the final statement of the forum to ASEAN leaders.

They also approved the budget for the ASEAN Secretariat for the 2011 fiscal year.
The ministers signed the Instrument of Incorporation of the Rules for Reference of Unresolved Disputes to the ASEAN Summit to the Protocol to the ASEAN Charter on Disputes Settlement Mechanism and witnessed the launching ceremony of the stamp collection “Vietnam in the ASEAN Community”.