WE, the Heads of State and Government of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (hereinafter referred to as”ASEAN”, gathered here in Vientiane, Laos, on 29 November 2004 for the Tenth ASEAN Summit;

NOTING that ASEAN Vision 2020 envisions ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian Nations, outward-looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies;

NOTING FURTHER that the Hanoi Plan of Action (HPA), the first in a series of action plans or programmes leading to the end-goal of ASEAN Vision 2020, ends in 2004 and that a successor action plan or programme is needed to guide further progress towards ASEAN Vision 2020;