Gov’t Presides Over Limited Meeting to Oversee Preparations for ASEAN Summit
President Jokowi and a number of ministers are about to join a limited meeting, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (04/27). (Photo by: PR of Presidential Secretariat/Rahmat)
With the 42nd ASEAN Summit just around the corner, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Thursday (27/04) presided over a limited cabinet meeting to check the final preparations for the summit.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno LP Marsudi said the President himself monitored the preparations, including in terms of security, infrastructure, and health aspects.
The Minister also guaranteed that the preparations are already “on the right track” for the summit, which is to be held on 10-11 May this year in Labuan Bajo in the eastern Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
According to Retno, the summit will include eight meetings, seven of which will be chaired by President Jokowi.
Those meetings include plenary sessions and retreat, Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) meeting, Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) meeting, as well as a series of meeting with parliaments, businesspeople, youth, and high-level task force aimed at drawing up ASEAN’s long-term visions.
“There will be eight meetings, seven of which will be led by the President. In the meantime, BIMP-EAGA [meeting] will be chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister since Malaysia currently holds chairmanship of BIMP-EAGA,” she said.
Retno went on to say that Labuan Bajo was chosen as a venue for the summit in a bid to promote the region as a travel destination for international tourists, adding that in its presidency Indonesia is also focused on making ASEAN a stronger region in surmounting challenges and strengthening its economic resilience.
“The 42nd Summit highlights “ASEAN Matters” and “Epicentrum of Growth”. The former is about efforts to improve so the region can face future challenges, while the latter is about ASEAN economic resilience,” she added.
Retno further said that in its chairmanship, Indonesia also pushes for a solid regional health architecture, as well as maintaining energy security including building electric vehicle (EV), food security, and financial stability.
Meanwhile, documents to be agreed on and adopted by ASEAN leaders, she added, are currently being discussed at senior official meetings (SOM), with the documents to be discussed during the ministerial meetings.
Retno also mentioned the ASEAN Post-2025 vision in which Indonesia’s chairmanship is aimed at realizing ASEAN’s concrete cooperation projects on various fields, including an initiative in health sector, promoting EV battery for a clean economy, and promoting the use of local currencies.
In 2023 Indonesia assumed the ASEAN chairmanship soon after the country’s successful 2022 Group of 20 presidency and the G20 Bali Summit in November.Chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) itself rotates annually based on the alphabetical order of the English names of its Member States.
A Member State assuming the chairmanship shall chair the ASEAN Summit and related summits, the ASEAN Coordinating Council, the three ASEAN Community Councils, relevant ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies and senior officials, and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. (DND/UN) (RAS/EP)
