BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Borneo Bulletin/ANN): Brunei King Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has confirmed his participation and will be in Jakarta to attend the 43rd Asean Summit and related summits from Tuesday to Friday, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The summits, chaired by Indonesia as the 2023 Chair of Asean, will gather Asean heads of state and government and dialogue partners to advance discussions on Asean Community-building efforts, and the strengthening of cooperation on issues of mutual interest such as economic cooperation, youth, climate change, the situation in Myanmar, Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), said the PMO.
Brunei's PMO also noted that the 42nd Asean Summit in May discussed the progress in Asean community-building efforts, the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus and the AOIP, as well as focused on the importance of upholding Asean centrality in ensuring that Asean continues to be the epicentrum of growth and the relevant platform for dialogue and cooperation towards shared peace and prosperity.
“This is in line with the theme of the Chair of Asean this year, ‘ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth’, which reaffirms Asean’s central role in the evolving regional architecture towards achieving peace and prosperity in the region, as well as focuses on fostering economic growth and recovery through robust cooperation,” said the PMO.
The Brunei government added that the theme also underlines Asean’s commitment to becoming more adaptive and responsive to current and future challenges.
Besides Brunei, the members of Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) are Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The latest addition to the association is East Timor. - Borneo Bulletin/ANN
