PUTRAJAYA: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman will lead Malaysia’s delegation to the 50th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (50th AMM) and Related Meetings in Manila, the Philippines.
Among the issues expected to be in the meeting, will include the Asean Community, implementation of the Asean Political-Security Blueprint 2025, as well as preparations for the 31st Asean Summit and Related Summits to be held in this November.
“The Foreign Ministers are scheduled to discuss and exchange views on matters relating to regional and international issues of common interest such as developments in the South China Sea; situation in the Korean Peninsula; terrorism and extremism; maritime security and other non-traditional security issues,” the ministry said in a statement.
Anifah, is also scheduled to attend the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC), the 18th Asean Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the 7th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 24th Asean Regional Forum.
The Asean Foreign Ministers will also attend the PMCs with ten Asean Dialogue Partners namely Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States (US).
Malaysia is currently the country coordinator for the Asean-U.S. Dialogue Relations for the 2015 to 2018, period.
Anifah and US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson will also co-chair the ASEAN PMC+1 with the US.
The Foreign Minister will also hold a number of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the 10 member regional bloc as well as dialogue partners to discuss and strengthen cooperation on strategic issues of common concern.
At the end of the 50th AMM and Related Meetings, the Foreign Ministers are expected to adopt a number of outcome documents, including the 50th AMM’s Joint Communiqué which will highlight discussions as well as strategic and important decisions made during the meetings.
The Philippines will also host the “Grand Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Asean” on Monday in Manila, which serves as the closing ceremony of the 50th AMM and Related Meetings.
One of the events during the celebration is the “Tribute to the Founding Fathers of Asean” ceremony, which aims to promote Asean community-building and raise the profile of Asean by honouring the five founding Fathers (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) for establishing Asean.
The 50th AMM and Related Meetings will end on Aug 8.