35th ASEAN SUMMIT IN BANGKOK, THAILAND 2019

“ADVANCING PARTNERSHIP FOR SUSTAINABILITY”

On November 3, 2019 the opening ceremony began for a 3 - day summit of

ASEAN countries attended by President Rodrigo Duterte and his partner Honeylet
Avacena. The following summit aims to discuss several issues present in the ASEAN
sphere. And with multilateralism and connectivity taking the highlight of the summit, the
Thai Prime minister Prayut Chan – o – cha said that “we should continue to work to
conclude negotiations on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in hopes that
this will stimulate growth in trade and investment.

While on November 4, 2019 gala dinner was held at Impact Exhibition and
Convention Center in Thailand and still with the presence of President Rodrigo Duterte
and his partner. The ASEAN summit was not only restricted to ASEAN countries but
there are other Asian countries who took part in the summit such as China, South
Korea, Japan, The United States, Australia, New Zealand, India. under Thailand’s
chairmanship, and building stability in a sustainable manner, border management, cyber
security, transnational crimes, disasters, sustainable development, economic promotion,
the 4th industrial revolution, preparation for the new generation, digital transformation,
the use of technology and digital innovation, promotion of education and care for all
groups of people.

Agenda

To advance ASEAN’s community-building agenda, aimed at ensuring greater

peace, security, and prosperity in the Asia Pacific.”

And they will be tackling or discussing issues pertaining to the developments in

the South China Sea and several security concerns, specifically terrorism, eradicate
drug trafficking and other transnational crimes. They will also opening their views on the
discussions about trade tensions, geopolitical shifts and the Fourth Industrial
Revolution.
 In this annual summit the leaders will discuss to further promote inclusive
sustainable development and address the climate change and environmental problems
and issues.

The Philippine participation and contribution in the summit

President Duterte said to have a fruitful participation in the said summit. The
Philippines said that it participate in all summit meetings - the 35th Asean Summit
Plenary, 22nd Asean-China Summit, 16th Asean-India Summit, 10th Asean-United
Nations Summit, 22nd Asean Plus Three Summit, 7th Asean-United States (US)
Summit, Special Lunch on Sustainable Development, 14th East Asia Summit, 22nd
Asean-Japan Summit, and the 3rd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) Summit.

But the President skipped several events during the last days and was instead
represented by his Cabinet which is also part of his Presidential delegation.

The Philippines also attended a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe to discuss the Philippines strategic partnership with Thailand.