HIS Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam will join other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders in Singapore today to discuss a slew of pressing political, economic and security issues at the 32nd Asean Summit and related meetings.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will host the summit, the first meeting of Asean’s top leaders in the City State in its year of chairing the group.
At the summit, to be held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Asean leaders will discuss the challenges and opportunities that the grouping faces. This will be in line with the focus on strengthening Asean’s resilience and innovation this year, a statement issued by the Singapore Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
As chairman, Singapore is keen to develop a network of smart cities across Asean and boost the region’s cyber-security, the statement added.
The leaders are expected to endorse and release statements outlining their vision to make Asean more resilient and innovative. They are also likely to agree on details of the preliminary phase of the Asean smart cities network, and issue a statement on the network and on cyber-security cooperation.
The leaders will also discuss regional and international developments. These will most likely include maritime cooperation and security in the South China Sea, the security situation on the Korean peninsula and the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will not attend the summit as it coincides with the Malaysian election and with nomination day falling on Saturday.
Meanwhile in an open letter, Asean lawmakers urged Southeast Asia’s leaders to address pressing human rights issues when they meet in Singapore.
Asean should also look into setting up mechanisms and institutions to safeguard human rights and respond effectively to their violations, added the letter from the Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a group of Asean lawmakers past and present.
They asked Asean not to overlook human rights concerns, even as the regional grouping focusses on tackling regional security challenges and promoting economic integration under Singapore’s chairmanship this year.
“We recognise the importance of both of these imperatives, but we also urge you to acknowledge that their successful implementation requires…respect for democracy, good governance, sustainable development, and human rights,” said the letter, sent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and forwarded to other Asean leaders.
Last month, Asean leaders who gathered in Sydney for an Asean-Australia special summit were greeted by hundreds of activists protesting human rights abuses in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The 32nd summit and related meetings of the Asean kicked off in Singapore on Wednesday, with topics including innovation-driven growth, smart cities and cyber-security.
Singapore acts as the chair of Asean for 2018 under the theme ‘Resilience and Innovation’.
The related meetings of the summit include the 16th Asean Economic Community (AEC) Council Meeting and the 17th Asean Political-Security Community Council Meeting. The two meetings will be chaired by Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry (Trade) Lim Hng Kiang and Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, respectively.
The 16th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the 11th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle Summit will also be held on the sidelines of the summit.
The summit and related meetings will end on Saturday.
Brunei has hosted the Asean Summit twice, first in 2001 and then in 2013. Last year, the summit was held in the Philippines.
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