President Duterte finally accepted the chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit 2017.
The Philippines formally accepted the full responsibility to be the chairman of the Association of Southeast Nations Summit in the year 2017.
This year, the heads of states which are members of ASEAN gathered in Vientiane, Laos for the summit that started on September 6 and ended on September 8.
On Thursday, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the chairmanship of the country of the next big event.
They unveiled the logo for the ASEAN Summit that will be held in the Philippines.
The chairmanship where Manila will be the host will coincide with the 50th anniversary of ASEAN as a regional organization.
In his acceptance speech, it was one of the few instances when Duterte read a prepared speech.
As we all know, Duterte is inclined to having impromptu addresses during his public speeches.
In front of the delegates, Duterte said that the Philippines’ chairmanship would highlight the ASEAN as a model of regionalism and a global player with the interest of the people at its core.
“We will pursue initiative and enhance cooperation with global partners to ensure that the ASEAN citizens live in peace, stability, security, and growth all while remaining ASEAN’s unity and solidarity we will maintain for all times,” Duterte said.
“The Philippines is ready and willing to see and guide the association, but crucial to the realization of our goals are cooperation and support from all the ASEAN member states and our dialogue partners,” Duterte said.
The theme for the ASEAN Summit 2017 is akin to Duterte’s campaign motto, “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.”
On September 6 to 8, Duterte participated in the ASEAN semi-annual meeting in Laos with the other nine ASEAN countries include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The heads of the 10 ASEAN nations were joined by ASEAN dialogue partners, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Russia, and the United States.