Myanmar's preparation for hosting the upcoming 24th ASEAN Summit is in full swing and will be finalized in the first week of May, state media reported Friday.

The 24th ASEAN Summit, the first of its kind to be held in Myanmar in the 17 years of its membership to the Southeast Asian bloc, is scheduled to take place at the Myanmar International Convention Center in Nay Pyi Taw on May 10-11.

Myanmar Vice President Dr. Sai Mauk Kham urged efforts to make best use of experiences gained during the previous ASEAN series meetings to host the summit successfully.

Sai also called on the Central Committee for Taking ASEAN Chairmanship and Establishing ASEAN Community to discuss the implementation of the resolutions of the previous ASEAN meetings and to finalize the plans to be implemented.

Myanmar is committed to undertaking the leadership role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2014 in gaining the momentum of ASEAN achievements, in fulfilling the 2015 ASEAN Community targets and in laying down the ASEAN Vision beyond 2015.

Myanmar pledged to strive for ensuring peace and prosperity in the ASEAN region as it assumes the ASEAN chair in the year.

2014 is the last year for Myanmar to take necessary preparations for the emergence of the ASEAN Community by 2015.

The upcoming summit will be followed by a related Annual ASEAN Leadership Forum set for May 11 to 12, in which heads of states and government, entrepreneurs and experts will focus on regional challenges, ASEAN cooperation in 2015 and progress of the region and the world.

Soon after taking up ASEAN chairmanship in the beginning of 2014, Myanmar first hosted ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting ( Retreat) in Bagan in January under the theme "moving forward in unity to a peaceful and prosperous community."

ASEAN foreign ministers vowed to give priority to speeding up efforts in ASEAN Community building and regional integration and moving forward to the realization of the ASEAN Community in 2015.

ASEAN ministers also touched on developing the ASEAN Vision for post 2015 as guided by the ASEAN leaders' statement at the 23rd ASEAN Summit in Indonesia last year while exploring ways to strengthen ASEAN's external relations.

In March, an ASEAN People's Forum took place in Yangon under the theme of "Advancing ASEAN Peoples' Solidarity Toward Sustainable Peace, Development, Justice and Democratization."

The event attracted nearly 3,000 civil society representatives from across the 10 ASEAN countries as well as Timor Leste.

Myanmar takes the rotating chair of ASEAN this year for the first time after joining ASEAN in 1997.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2014)