MANILA: The 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits officially begins here today.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who chairs this year’s ASEAN Summit, officially opened the summits at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines (CCP) in Pasay City, here.
This year’s Summit also coincides with ASEAN’s 50th anniversary.
The 10 Leaders from the region and their dialogue partners from several world powers, the European Union and the United Nations are expected to focus their discussions on political, security, economic, and socio-cultural issues.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor attended the opening ceremony, together with other ASEAN Leaders, among them Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Also attending the high-profile opening ceremony were US President Donald Trump, Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Malcolm Turnbull (Australia), Shinzo Abe (Japan) and Premier Li Keqiang of China.
The Manila gathering will see a total of 11 summits and expected to adopt 56 outcome documents, including the non-legally binding ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.
Leaders will discuss regional and international issues of common concern such as the South China Sea, Rohingya refugee crisis, Korean Peninsula tension, counter terrorism and violent extremism and cyber digital economy.
Among the key events are the 31st ASEAN Summit Plenary, the ASEAN-US Commemorative Summit, the 20th ASEAN-China Summit, the 19th ASEAN-South Korea Summit, the 20th ASEAN-Japan Summit, and the 9th ASEAN-United Nations Summit.
The ASEAN Leaders will also meet with the region’s industry leaders representing the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
ASEAN was established in Bangkok on August 8, 1967 with five founding members – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. -- Bernama