International Media Center, Conrad (Eagle News Service) – Heads of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) begin to arrive at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) today. Receiving the leaders and their respective spouses at the grand staircase of the PICC is Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña.
President Duterte will play host to the leaders of the ASEAN and preside over the opening ceremony at the PICC and the Leaders’ Retreat at the Coconut Palace.
The world leaders attending the Summit are: Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.
This is the first of two ASEAN Summits in this milestone year as ASEAN celebrates its 50th anniversary.
According to Department of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Robespierre Bolivar, the leaders of the 10 members of the ASEAN are expected to have discussions on a wide range of issues.
These include strengthening the ASEAN community in pursuit of the ASEAN Vision 2025, regional and international issues of interest and enhancing ASEAN relations with external partners.
The ASEAN Vision 2025 includes deepening the integration process to realise a rules-based, people-oriented, people-centred ASEAN Community, where its peoples enjoy human rights and fundamental sense of togetherness and common identity.
It also envisions a peaceful, stable and resilient Community with enhanced capacity to respond effectively to challenges, and ASEAN as an outward-looking region within a global community of nations, while maintaining ASEAN centrality.
The ASEAN Vision 2025 will also underline the complementarity of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with ASEAN community building efforts to uplift the standards of living in the region.
The leaders are expected to sign the ASEAN Declaration on the Roles of the Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving the ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
Further, the Leaders will be meeting with the representatives of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and ASEAN youth. The 12th Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit and 10th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit will also be held in this occasion.
Caesar Vallejos
