Philippines Chairs ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting in Preparation for 30^th ASEAN Summit Ministerial Meetings

The ASEAN Senior Officials link arms in the iconic ASEAN way during the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Preparatory Meeting in Manila on April 27. The meeting was chaired by Assistant Secretary of the DFA Office of ASEAN Affairs Ma. Hellen Barber-De La Vega (5^th from left), the Acting SOM Leader of the Philippines for ASEAN.

27 April 2017, MANILA – Assistant Secretary Ma. Hellen Barber-De La Vega, the Acting SOM Leader of the Philippines for ASEAN, chaired the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila on April 27.

The Meeting discussed the preparations for the upcoming ASEAN Ministerial Meetings, as well as the 30^th ASEAN Summit that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will be chairing on April 29.

The SOM Leaders endorsed for elevation to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers the outcome documents and relevant ASEAN reports on matters   related to the implementation of the ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Blueprint 2025. They exchanged views on recent regional and international developments affecting regional peace and stability, including developments in the Korean Peninsula, transnational crimes, and the situation in the South China Sea, ASEAN’s relations with its external partners, and strengthening of ASEAN’s existing institutions and mechanisms. END