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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is set to visit the capital city of Myanmar, Naypyitaw, on Saturday to attend the 24th ASEAN Summit, which will be Yudhoyono'€™s last ASEAN Summit before his term in office expires in October.

The meeting is expected to discuss various regional and global issues that are strategic to the member states, as well as hearing the association'€™s secretary-general present the progress of each member state ahead of the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

'€œThe President will use his presence at the summit to present a review of ASEAN'€™s achievements in the last 10 years, given the fact that he has participated at each summit,'€ presidential spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in a press statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Friday.

'€œHe will also express his hope for the continuity of ASEAN'€™s cohesiveness, despite past, present and future challenges.'€

During Indonesia'€™s chairmanship of ASEAN, the East Asia Summit in 2011 produced two important guidelines: the Bali Concord and the Bali Principles on Mutually Beneficial Relations.

The two instruments map out the interaction between ASEAN and the international community, as well as providing guidelines to create a conducive environment for the peaceful resolution of any potential conflicts and disputes.

Faizasyah said that the upcoming summit in Myanmar would have a strategic focus as it was being held in the run-up to the realization of the AEC, and it '€œwill certainly be used to assess the readiness of the ASEAN member states for entering the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015'€.

During the summit, the country leaders are expected to adopt the Naypyitaw Declaration on the Realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015, and terms of reference for the ASEAN secretary-general as ASEAN'€™s humanitarian assistance coordinator.

The leaders are also to take note of five documents, namely the reports of the ASEAN Political Security Community Council, the ASEAN Economic Community Council, the ASEAN Social and Cultural Community Council, the secretary-general of ASEAN on the 24th ASEAN Summit on the Work of ASEAN, and the Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation.

However, the weekend gathering will be staged amid ongoing tension between Vietnam and China, after China stationed a giant oil rig near the disputed Paracel islands, off Vietnam'€™s coast.

Reuters reported that Vietnam, which has said China'€™s move was illegal and has called for the rig to be removed from what it claims are Vietnamese territorial waters, said it would be seeking support for its position during the
summit.

During his three-day trip, Yudhoyono is also set to chair a meeting on subregional economic cooperation at the 10th Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit.