43rd Asean Summit to focus on strengthening bloc's capacity

JAKARTA - The 43rd Asean Summit, slated for Sept 5 to 7, will continue discussions on strengthening the bloc's capacity and institutional effectiveness to help it respond to challenges in the next 20 years.

Director-General of Asean Cooperation at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Sidharto Suryodipuro said that Indonesia aims to lay the foundation for Asean cooperation to address current and future challenges.

To achieve that, it is a must to strengthen Asean institution and mechanisms, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported he said at a virtual press briefing.

He said that focus will be on several aspects, such as human resources in the Asean community, dialogues on human rights, as well as maritime cooperation among member countries.

Discussions on strengthening Asean institutions, which started under Indonesia's Initiative, began in 2022 with the High-Level Task Force's Recommendations on the Post-2025 Asean Community Vision (HLTF-ACV) on Strengthening Asean’s Capacity and Institutional Effectiveness, it reported.

Asean leaders have also discussed this issue with the high-level task force at the 42nd Summit in Labuan Bajo, in May.

Suryodipuro said that Indonesia is expecting 27 world leaders and international bodies, including 18 leaders of countries participating in the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Canadian Prime Minister, and executive directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to join the meeting, which will be held in Jakarta. - BERNAMA-VNA