MANILA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has arrived in Manila to lead Malaysia's delegation to the 49th Asean Summit and Related Summits, which begin on Sunday (Nov 15).
The aircraft carrying Anwar and his delegation landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport at about 8pm on Saturday (Nov 14).
Anwar, who was accompanied by his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was welcomed by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Philippine Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Juanito Victor "Jonvic" C. Remulla Jr, Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Datuk Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino Anthony and Foreign Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Amran Mohamed Zin.
The Malaysian delegation also includes Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, as well as senior officials from relevant ministries and agencies.
Anwar is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the 49th Asean Summit on Sunday, followed by the plenary and retreat sessions.
He is also expected to participate in engagements with representatives of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (Aipa), Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC) and Asean youth.
On Monday (Nov 16), Anwar is scheduled to attend several summits with Asean's dialogue partners, including China, Australia, South Korea and the United Nations.
The 12th Asean-United States Summit and bilateral meetings with regional counterparts are also expected to feature in his programme.
Anwar is scheduled to make a brief return to Kuala Lumpur on Monday evening to receive French President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to arrive at KL International Airport at 10pm.
He is then scheduled to return to Manila on Tuesday (Nov 17) to attend the closing ceremony of the summit and the handover of the Asean chairmanship to Singapore.
