APD | Philippine President Duterte to join ASEAN leaders’ gathering in Bali, Indonesia

By APD writerMelo M. Acuna

MANILA, Oct. 8 (APD) – Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is set to leave this Wednesday, October 10 for Bali, Indonesia for the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering at the invitation of Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo.

In a press briefing at Malacanang, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for ASEAN Affairs Junever Mahilum-West said there will be two major engagements, the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering proper on Thursday afternoon and the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering Dinner in the evening.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for ASEAN Affairs Junever Mahilum-West

Asst. Secretary Mahilum-West said President Duterte will join other leaders of ASEAN member states in showcasing ASEAN leadership and solid cooperation in managing economic growth to create better prosperity towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. They will also affirm their commitment to support the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations’ role in addressing development changes.

The meeting will immediately follow the ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General last September 28,2018 in New York at the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly.

Among the topics discussed were ways to minimize the adverse impact of climate change, alleviating poverty, tackling inequalities and promoting women’s empowerment, energy connectivity and technical solutions for energy efficiency, promoting and greening micro, small and medium enterprises among other issues.

Ms. Mahilum-West said the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering will be a two-hour roundtable to exchange views under the theme “Achieving SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and Overcoming Development Gap Through Regional and Global Collaborative Actions.”

It will be co-chaired by the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Prime Minister of Singapore as the ASEAN Chair in 2018.

The participants aside from ASEAN leaders are the IMF Managing Director, the World Bank President, UN Secretary-General and the ASEAN Secretary-General. The gathering is expected to last for a maximum of two and a half hours.

President Duterte would highlight the government’s efforts to improve its performance in achieving the SGDs and call all parties to strengthen support for micro, small and medium enterprises development and call for economic resilience amidst prevailing global economic uncertainties and encourage deeper cooperation between ASEAN, UN< IMF and the World Bank to implement ASEAN Community Vision 2025 including the United nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

While no official document will be issued, Asst. Secretary Mahilum-West said the outcome of the discussions is expected to set the tone for the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group to be held in the same venue on October 12-14,2018.

A bilateral meeting between Presidents Duterte and Widodo may take place at the sidelines of the ASEAN event.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)