A tight schedule awaits Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob when he arrives in Washington on Tuesday (today in Malaysia), ahead of a high-level meeting with United States President Joe Biden and Asean leaders.
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Ismail Sabri will join Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris and other Asean leaders at the two-day Asean-US Special Summit in Washington, starting Thursday (Friday in Malaysia).
All the 10 Asean leaders are scheduled to participate in the special summit except those from the Philippines and Myanmar.
“I was made to understand that Myanmar’s representative was not invited while Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will not be attending due to the ongoing general election in the country,” Saifuddin told the Malaysian media in Washington.
It was reported that the Myanmar junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was not invited following last year’s Feb 1 coup in that country.
President Biden will host a dinner for the Asean leaders at the White House on Thursday (Friday in Malaysia).
Biden is scheduled to exchange views on regional and global issues with Asean leaders at the US Department of State on Friday (Saturday in Malaysia).
Saifuddin said this is the second Asean-US Special Summit hosted by the US president after the then-president Barack Obama welcomed Asean leaders to the United States in 2016.
This special summit also marks the 45th anniversary of the Asean-US dialogue relationship, Saifuddin said.
He said Vice President Harris will also hold discussions with Asean leaders on a wide range of issues including health, maritime cooperation, climate change and clean energy on Friday (Saturday in Malaysia) at the State Department.
"The prime minister will stress Aseans’s centrality in the Asean-US cooperation at the summit,” he said.
Saifuddin said Asean leaders are expected to bring to the meeting table, among others, the region's interests in trade, economy and technology.
The special summit is expected to issue a Joint Vision Statement which would underscore the commitment and aspiration to enhance the Asean-US partnership in the interest of enduring peace, stability, security and shared prosperity for all at the end of the high-level meeting.
Asean, the Southeast Asian bloc, consist of Brunei, Cambodia Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philipines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Saifuddin said prime minister Ismail Sabri will also meet with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai in Washington on Thursday (Friday in Malaysia).
The prime minister will also take the opportunity to meet American captains of industries as well as the US-Asean Business Council and Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Thursday.
Ismail Sabri is slated to meet the Malaysian diaspora in a Hari Raya Aidilfitri Keluarga Malaysia gathering in Washington on Wednesday (tomorrow in Malaysia).
- Bernama
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