Cambodian think tank to host int'l forum on regional security, Chinese global initiatives

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The International Relations Institute of Cambodia (IRIC), a think tank under the Royal Academy of Cambodia, will host an international forum on Oct. 25, focusing on regional security concerns and Chinese global initiatives, an organizer said on Saturday.

IRIC's director general Kin Phea said the second Phnom Penh Forum (PPF) will bring together dozens of scholars, professors, and researchers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, South Korea, and Russia, among others.

"The annual forum will give an opportunity to international experts to discuss ASEAN centrality," he told Xinhua, adding that the experts would also share views on alliances like the Quad (formally the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, and the tripartite AUKUS, a military pact among the United States, Britain and Australia.

"It will raise public awareness on the proliferation of nuclear technology and heightened risk of triggering a nuclear arms race," he said, adding that ASEAN is a nuclear weapon-free zone, and the 10-country bloc opposes nuclear weapon proliferation.

Phea said experts will also share their views on four Chinese global initiatives, namely the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Global Civilization Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Development Initiative, as well as BRICS mechanism and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

"The forum will be a venue for experts to share their ideas and solutions to pressing regional security concerns and global challenges," Phea said.

"We hope the forum's outcomes will be useful for leaders to make right decisions to continue to maintain peace, security, stability, common development, and prosperity in the region and in the world at large," he added.