High-class cars donated for use in ASEAN summits in Myanmar

Two private companies have donated to the Myanmar Ministry of Transport dozens of BMW cars for use by dignitaries attending the upcoming ASEAN summits hosted by Myanmar during 2014, official media reported Friday.

The joint sponsors of the vehicles are BMW Group Asia and Octagon International Services Co Ltd (Prestige Automobile), said the New Light of Myanmar.

Certificate of Appreciation to the joint sponsors on the vehicles for the 2014 regional summits was ceremonially presented by Deputy Minister of Transport U Zin Yaw.

Approved by ASEAN leaders at their summit on Nov. 17, 2011, Myanmar is to assume the alternate chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) starting Jan. 1, 2014, which was taken over from Brunei. The first Myanmar-host ASEAN foreign ministers meeting has been set for Jan. 17 at the Orient Palace Hotel in Bagan, Mandalay region.

During Myanmar's one-year term of the ASEAN chairmanship, more than 240 regional meetings are scheduled to be held in Nay Pyhi Taw, Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan.