President Rodrigo Duterte will fly to Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Leaders’ Gathering, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
“The President will be attending the meeting at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo,” DFA Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Junever Mahilum-West said in a Palace press briefing.
West said Duterte will join other ASEAN leaders in the one-day event, where they will showcase the region’s solid leadership and intensify cooperation in managing economic growth that will create better prosperity and equity as well as delivering meaningful progress in achieving the sustainable development goals.
“On the part of the Philippines, the President would highlight the government’s efforts to improve its performance in achieving the sustainable development goals,” West said.
West said Duterte will urge all parties to strengthen support for micro, small and medium enterprises and call for economic resilience amidst prevailing global economic uncertainties.
Duterte will also encourage deeper cooperation between ASEAN, United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
She said Duterte is also expected to emphasize the roles of the IMF, the World Bank and the ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and Korea) Macroeconomic Research Office in building the capacity of countries to reach their sustainable development targets.
The ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering will be a two-hour informal roundtable, under the theme, “Achieving SDGs and Overcoming Development Gap Through Regional and Global Collaborative Actions.”
West said the ASEAN leaders will affirm the region’s commitment to the IMF, the World Bank, and the UN’s role in “addressing development challenges.”
“The ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering will serve as a platform at the highest levels for further engagement of the ASEAN leaders with the IMF managing director, the World Bank president, and the UN secretary-general,” West said.
Aside from ASEAN leaders, other participants to the meeting will be IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, World Bank president Jim Yong-kim, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi.
The meeting, which will be co-chaired by Widodo and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, will take place on the heels of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with the UN Secretary-General last Sept. 28 in New York.
During the New York meeting, the ASEAN and UN noted the importance of ASEAN-UN cooperation particularly in cross-sectoral areas to contribute to the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“The areas covered include minimizing the adverse impact of climate change, alleviating poverty, tackling inequalities and promoting women’s empowerment, energy connectivity and technical solutions for energy efficiency, promoting and greening micro, small and medium enterprises, agriculture, education, health, food and nutrition, enhancing social security and promoting decent work for all,” West said.
West said the no document will be issued but the outcome of the discussions during the ASEAN Leaders’ Gathering is expected to set the tone for the 2018 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank to be held on Oct. 12-14, also in Bali, Indonesia.
