Asean foreign ministers to meet in Manila next week

MANILA, Philippines -  Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their dialogue partners from the European Union (EU), China, Japan and US will meet in Manila next week to discuss urgent issues including terrorism, disaster risk reduction and climate change.

The 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City from Aug. 2 to 8.

Among the non-ASEAN attendees are US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

Wang visited the Philippines last week upon the invitation of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

Cayetano will meet with his counterparts from ASEAN member-states, China, Japan and Korea for the 18th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to exchange views on regional and international issues.

He will also participate in the tripartite meeting among the Philippines, Switzerland and the ASEAN Secretariat, where officials are expected to review the progress of ASEAN-Switzerland Sectoral Dialogue Relations, including priority areas such as human security, disaster risk reduction and climate change, as well as technical-vocational education and training.

Cayetano will join ministers from the ASEAN and its 10 dialogue partners  – namely, Australia, Canada, China, EU, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US – for the Post Ministerial Conference Sessions.

The meeting will review the progress in the implementation of Plans of Action under the three pillars of ASEAN that will pave the way for the realization of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and its blueprints, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The foreign ministers will also exchange views on regional and international issues of common concern, including the evolving regional security architecture in the Asia-Pacific, maritime security and cooperation, countering violent extremism, among others, the DFA said.

President Duterte is expected to address the foreign ministers during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN on Aug. 8.