Leaders worldwide to attend ASEAN Summits in Laos

US President Barack Obama, President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Geun-hye and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said they will join the events, according to the Lao Foreign Ministry.

Vientiane Times said on August 23 that President Obama will make the first ever visit of a US president to Laos that aims to advance the bilateral ties and attend these events.

President Obama is scheduled to have bilateral meetings with Party General Secretary and President Bounhang Volachith and other key officials of Laos.

At the ASEAN Summit, the US President will discuss ways to strengthen economic cooperation with ASEAN member countries, and step up collaboration with Southeast Asian nations in coping with regional and global challenges.

During the East Asia Summit which will bring together ASEAN leaders and representatives from the bloc’s eight partner countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the RoK, the US and Russia, President Obama will coordinate with the regional leaders to promote a rules-based international order.

According to the newspaper, during her upcoming trip to Laos, the first of its kind since the establishment of the Laos-RoK diplomatic ties in 1995, President Park Geun-hye will have a summit with Lao leaders to seek measures to boosting bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, energy and development, and compare notes on the Korean Peninsula issue.

Vientiane Times also cited Manila Times as saying that President Rodrigo Duterte will not raise the East Sea issue at the ASEAN Summits, which will only be tabled at planned bilateral meetings between Beijing and Manila.