ASEAN Flag Raising Ceremony on ASEAN Day 8^th August 2017

                 On 8 August 2017, His Excellency Mr. Nopporn Adchariyavanich, Ambassador of Thailand to Finland, as Chair of the ASEAN Helsinki Committee for the year 2017, presided over the ASEAN Flag Raising Ceremony on ASEAN Day on the premises of the Embassy of Indonesia, with the presence of Ambassadors of ASEAN member countries in Helsinki, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Also present were the Ambassadors, Charge d’Affaires and representatives of Embassies from ASEAN Dialogue Partners and Sectoral Partner, such as the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Russia, Norway, and some members of the European Union, such as Austria, Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland was represented by the Director-General of the Americas and Asia at the ceremony.

                 In his remarks at the ceremony, H.E. Mr. Adchariyavanich reflected upon ASEAN’s achievements in the past 50 years since its inception on 8 August 1967, when the Foreign Ministers of the five founding ASEAN member countries signed the Bangkok Declaration. ASEAN has since then successfully established a process of dialogue, trust, cooperation and integration among Member Countries and with its Dialogue Partners. The future direction of ASEAN was outlined in the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, ASEAN strives to be more rules-based, people-oriented and people-centred.  ASEAN is also ready to look beyond its region, to play a larger role in addressing global concerns and contribute to world peace and security.