Cambodia hosts 13th informal ASEAN environment ministerial meeting

The 13th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment opened here on Tuesday to discuss a number of issues relevant to environmental sustainability and economic development. Addressing the opening ceremony, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly said the 3-day meeting would cover issues related to cooperation in environmental sustainability, climate change, coastal and marine environment, water resource management, environmental education, nature conservation and biodiversity. "The meeting is very important to ensure that each ASEAN member state has developed their countries with environmental impact consideration in order to guarantee long-term revenue sources for the people in the whole region," he said. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of the estimated population of 581 million which would rise to about 650 million by 2015, he said. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.