Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA News) - Indonesia at the closing ceremony of the 19th ASEAN Summit at Bali`s Nusa Dua Convention Center here on Saturday officially handed its position as ASEAN chair to Cambodia.

During the Saturday evening event, the leaders of ASEAN`s 10 member states sat in front seats with Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the 2011 ASEAN chair in the middle between former ASEAN chair Vietnamese President Nguyen Tan Dung and the next ASEAN chairman, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The transfer of the ASEAN chairmanship from Indonesia to Cambodia was marked symbolically with President Yudhoyono handing over a hammer to President Hun Sen.

The 19th ASEAN Summit and related summits were held in Nusa Dua November 13-19. Among the issues discussed during the events were Myanmar`s bid to be chairman of ASEAN in 2014, a Declaration of Conduct (DoC) for claimant countries in the South China Sea, progress in negotiations between ASEAN and nuclear weapon states (P5) about their accession to the South East Asia Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ) and Timor Leste`s ASEAN membership application.

In the Bali summit, the ASEAN leaders also signed the Bali Declaration which would be the backbone of ASEAN cooperation after becoming a single community in 2015.

The summit also approved Myanmar`s proposal to assume the ASEAN chair in 2014.

The 19th ASEAN Summit was participated in by 10 ASEAN heads of state/government, namely Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Brunei Darussalam`s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia`s Prime Minister Hun Sen, Vietnam`s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Laos Prime Minister Thingsing Thammavong, Malaysia`s Prime Minister Najib Razak, Myanmar President Thein Sein, the Phillippines President Beniqno Aquino III, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long and Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. (*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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