PM Lee to attend 42nd Asean Summit in Indonesia, leaders expected to discuss Myanmar conflict and geopolitics

LABUAN BAJO (Indonesia) — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will be attending the 42nd Association for Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia on May 10 and 11, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a statement on Tuesday (May 9).

Mr Lee will be accompanied by his wife Ho Ching, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan as well as officials from the PMO and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

In his absence, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong will be Acting Prime Minister on May 9 and 10, with Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean taking over the role on May 11.

The Asean summit is the first of two to be hosted by Indonesia as the Asean chair in 2023.

Mr Lee has previously led the Singapore delegation for previous Asean meetings, most recently for the 2022 summits in Cambodia and the 2021 summits hosted by Brunei. The latter was held via videoconferencing due to the pandemic.

WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA

This year’s theme, Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth, “underlines a substantive and forward-looking agenda”, particularly in areas such as economic integration and community-building, said PMO on Tuesday.

The 10 Asean member states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Leaders of the Asean member states will review the grouping’s progress and discuss ways to enhance collaboration in digital and green economies, said PMO.

“The leaders will also discuss the geopolitical situation, with the view to maintain Asean’s central role in an open, inclusive and stable regional architecture,” it added.

The discussions are expected to cover international and regional developments, including the situation in Myanmar.

Asean leaders issued a peace plan in April 2021 called the Five-Point Consensus, two months after the military coup in Myanmar. Among other things, the plan calls for mediation between various parties and an immediate end to violence in a bid to end the turmoil in Myanmar.

On Sunday, a humanitarian convoy including two staff members of the Singapore Embassy in Yangon came under attack in the eastern Shan state in Myanmar. 

"They are safe and have returned to Yangon," said a Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson on Monday night, while also condemning the attack.

MFA’s statement comes after Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo spoke about a "shootout" while officials from the Asean were en route to deliver humanitarian aid.

Speaking to reporters at Labuan Bajo, he said that the attack would not affect Asean’s or Indonesia’s resolve to push for peace in Myanmar.

Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing is not expected to attend the summit, as Asean continues to exclude the country’s political leadership at high-level meetings, inviting instead a "non-political representative". The junta has so far refused to send representatives to meetings.

With Thailand holding its general elections on May 14, its prime minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha will also not be attending this year’s summit.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai will be attending as his special envoy, according to a statement by Thailand’s foreign affairs ministry.

Apart from the leaders from Asean member states, Prime Minister of Timor-Leste Taur Matan Ruak will also be attending as an observer for the first time.

At last year’s summit in Cambodia, Asean members agreed in principle that Timor-Leste would become the 11th member of the grouping.