President Duterte to take part in 36th ASEAN Summit, first Videocon summit
MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will take part in the 36th ASEAN Summit which will be held tomorrow, June 26,2020 via video conference.
In a statement released today, the Office of the President said this year’s theme “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN,” President Duterte and his counterparts will review current initiatives and explore new avenues for enhanced cooperation to further strengthen the region’s capacity to address the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is a follow through to the agreements made during the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 held last April which sought to find ways to simplify the ASEAN region’s transition to the “new normal” and post-pandemic recovery.
Chaired by Viet Nam, the meeting will also look into the progress of various community building initiatives under ASEAN’s three pillars, political-security, economic and socio-cultural and chart the way forward. They will also exchange views on international and regional issues, including maritime security developments.
According to the statement, the Leaders will also have the opportunity to interface with parliamentarians, youth representatives and business leaders all over ASEAN.
There will be a special session on “Women Empowerment in the Digital Age” to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on the rights of women and gender equality.
It is expected the Leaders will adopt more than ten outcome documents on key areas of cooperation, including food security and supply chain connectivity in the context of pandemic response, countering radicalization and violent extremism, and human resource development among others.
President Duterte will be joined by key members of his cabinet, including Foreign Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista, covering the three pillars of the ASEAN Community.
This is the first ever ASEAN Summit to be convened through video conference due to limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Melo M. Acuña)
