Secretary Cayetano Participates in the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Singapore

Singapore, 6 February 2018: Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano joined other ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Singapore for the annual ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat, the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers during Singapore’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018.

During the Retreat, the Foreign Ministers discussed the way forward in efforts to further integrate ASEAN in all its three pillars, namely, political-security community, economic community, and socio-cultural community. They also tackled ASEAN’s priorities for 2018, in line with Singapore’s theme of “Resilience” and “Innovation.” They expressed support for Singapore’s major deliverables for its chairmanship of ASEAN in 2018, including the creation of an ASEAN Smart Cities Network and strengthening regional cooperation on cybersecurity. They also reaffirmed their support for articulating an ASEAN strategic vision amidst the changing geostrategic environment.

Coming off from the Philippines’ successful chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017 which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Association, Secretary Cayetano urged his fellow ASEAN FMs to capitalize on the momentum for realizing ASEAN Vision 2025 by following through on several important initiatives, including the “ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers,” “ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP),” and the commencement of the substantive negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC). He also underscored the importance of promoting and maintaining ASEAN Centrality and unity and demonstrating collective solidarity on issues affecting individual member states, such as ASEAN support to efforts by Indonesia and Malaysia on palm oil concerns. END