MANILA: (Bernama-PNA) The Philippines is set to host a number of foreign ministers and high-level officials’ meetings in Manila from July 18 to 24 for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), Philippine News Agency (PNA) reported.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson for Asean Affairs Dax Imperial on Thursday said all Asean foreign ministers will be present, except for Myanmar, which will be represented by its permanent secretary.
Also expected to attend are the foreign ministers of Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan and the European Union (EU).
During this period, Manila will convene an informal consultation with Myanmar on the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, AMM-Post Ministerial Conferences with dialogue partners, Asean Plus Three (China, Japan, and South Korea), high-level Asean Regional Forum (ARF) and the commemorative activities for the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.
The ARF serves as a platform for dialogue and cooperation on security matters related to the Indo-Pacific.
It is made up of 27 member states, including the 11 Asean member states, the 10 Asean Dialogue Partners (Australia, Canada, China, EU, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States); and Bangladesh, North Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea.
As of this posting, Imperial said the DFA is still waiting for the confirmation of other attending foreign ministers and representatives.
There is "no confirmation yet,” he added, on the attendance of US Department of State Marco Rubio.
Aside from the Philippines, other Asean members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. - Bernama-PNA
