Packed Asean Summit schedule for Anwar in Manila

MANILA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has a full schedule at the 49th Asean Summit and Related Summits today, with the Myanmar crisis and South China Sea tensions expected to dominate discussions.

Anwar, who arrived on Saturday night, will attend the opening ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), where Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr will preside as Asean chair.

The summit plenary and leaders' retreat will follow.

Anwar is accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.

Later today, the prime minister will join fellow Asean leaders in separate meetings with representatives of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC) and Asean youth.

He is scheduled to receive a courtesy call from Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Masato Kanda in the evening.

The Foreign Ministry said the summit would give Malaysia an opportunity to exchange views on Asean Community building and the bloc's future direction, with talks focusing on strengthening regional resilience, energy security and supply chains amid shifting global conditions.

Leaders are expected to review the implementation of Asean's Five-Point Consensus (5PC) on Myanmar and discuss the bloc's next steps.

Maritime security talks are expected to cover the proposed establishment of an Asean Maritime Centre and progress in negotiations on a South China Sea Code of Conduct (COC).

The ministry said leaders were also expected to discuss transboundary haze pollution and the ongoing crisis in Middle East.

On Monday, Anwar is scheduled to attend summits with China, Australia, South Korea and the United Nations.

The three-day gathering, themed "Navigating Our Future, Together", will conclude on Tuesday with further meetings, including the Asean-United States Special Summit, and the handover of the Asean chairmanship from the Philippines to Singapore.