As the 22nd ASEAN Summit wrapped up here Thursday, the leaders agreed to push ahead with the ASEAN Roadmap and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint, and to intensify regional and sub-regional efforts in the spurt to realize the goal of establishing an ASEAN Community by the end of 2015.

The ASEAN leaders noted with satisfaction in a Chairman's Statement following the two-day meeting that 259 measures, or 77. 54 percent of the AEC Blueprint has been implemented.

They also agreed on the need to enhance the Southeast Asian bloc's competitiveness by better facilitating trade and investment, leveraging upon on-going work to establish the AEC.

Initiatives to ease the way of doing business, address investment impediments, institutionalize discussions on regulatory improvement and incorporate innovation policies into ASEAN's efforts were also proposed at the summit.

Noting that the integration process of ASEAN to become a European Union-like community in two years' time was gathering pace, Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, also chair of ASEAN summit this year, told media that the process would continue past the 2015 deadline.

Meanwhile, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh said at a press conference later in the day that "agreements made at regional level have so far been implemented modestly at the national level. It is now necessary to ensure that ASEAN agreements trickle down to national plans and policies. I am optimistic this can be achieved in the given time period."

The South China Sea issue continued to dominate discussions at the summit with the bloc's foreign ministers agreeing to a round of talks ahead of a much anticipated meeting with China.

The ministers would meet to consolidate their common stances before beginning discussions with China, he said.

He reiterated that all claimants of the South China Sea have already reached an agreement based on international law and the guidelines outlined in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea that was released ten years ago.

The ASEAN leaders also reached consensus on starting negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ( RCEP) in May in Brunei.

The RCEP aims to be the largest free trade bloc in the world, comprising all 10 ASEAN nations and the six other countries with which the group has free-trade agreements -- China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines also held discussions on the ASEAN Connectivity Plan on Thursday as part of the summit under the theme "Our People, Our Future Together."

Titled the 9th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippine East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), the mechanism attempts to improve economic integration among the countries.

A separate meeting was held between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand as ASEAN grappled with sustaining regional growth amid a challenging global environment.

An agreement on the formation of a growth triangle joining Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand (IMT) was signed at the conclusion of the summit.

The Center for IMT aims to form a seamless, progressive and prosperous sub-region through private sector-led economic growth, and to help facilitate the development of the sub-region as a whole.

Other major issues put on the table included the maritime Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, the development of the ASEAN Single Window, evaluation of ASEAN Integration Work Plan II (2009- 2015), regional assistance to Myanmar, and the publication of ASEAN Security Outlook 2013.

Created in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.