By Mary Noll Christine P. Caadyang and Pauline Faye V. Tria LAO PEOPLE’S Democratic Republic (PDR) Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on Thursday extended his firm belief and support in the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2017 under President Rodrigo Duterte. Sisoulith said amid the closing ceremony that Lao PDR will continue to cooperate with the Philippines’s ASEAN Chairmanship, the ASEAN Member States and external parties to strengthen the ASEAN Community. “I trust that under the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship in 2017—in addition to the meaningful celebration of the 50th anniversary of ASEAN—the ASEAN Community will continue to gain new achievements in order to turn the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 into reality with concrete outcomes,” Sisoulith said in his closing remarks.
Prime Minister Sisoulith turned over the Chairmanship to President Duterte at the closing ceremony of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits, which under Article 31 of the ASEAN Charter is an alphabetical rotation of its member-states’ English names. “We will highlight ASEAN as a model of regionalism and a global player, with the interest of the people at its core,” Duterte said in his acceptance speech in Vientiane, Laos. The chairman manages the ASEAN Summit and other related summits: the Coordinating Council, the three Community Coordinating Councils, the relevant ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial bodies and senior officials, and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. According to the Charter, the member state holding the Chairmanship during the year shall “actively promote and enhance the interests and well-being of ASEAN”, through policy initiatives, coordination, consensus, and cooperation within the ASEAN Community. The host member state should also ensure the ASEAN’s centrality and readiness to effectively respond to urgent crisis that may occur. It must represent ASEAN in its relationship with external partners, and to fulfill necessary tasks and functions mandated. Indonesia was the country to host the first ASEAN summit in Bali in 1976. Duterte’s Vision for ASEAN 2017 Duterte said in his acceptance speech that he aims to pursue initiative and enhance cooperation with global partners to ensure the ASEAN’s citizens peace, stability, security, and growth while sustaining unity. The chairmanship will concur on the regional organization’s 50th anniversary, which was founded on August 8, 1967. The theme “Partnering For Change, Engaging The World” for ASEAN 2017 also echoes with President Duterte’s campaign slogan, “Change is coming”. “Our theme captures our resolve to consolidate our community for our peoples with a sense of togetherness and common identity, ready and able to take our rightful place in the global community of nations,” Duterte said. “The Philippines is ready and willing to steer and guide the Association, but crucial to the realization of our goals [and] cooperation and support from all the ASEAN member states and our dialogue partners,” he added. The Philippines previously led the ASEAN Summit in 2006, 1999, and 1987, under former presidents Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Joseph Estrada, and Corazon Aquino, respectively. “We (the member states) exchanged views on regional and international developments, focusing on how we may deepen ASEAN integration to better foster the region’s sustainable development, stability, security and prosperity for the benefit of all our peoples,” Arroyo said at the 12th ASEAN Summit. The Philippines will officially start its chairmanship on January 1, 2017. E
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