At the invitation of H.E. Ma. Christina A. Roque, Secretary of Trade and Industry of the Republic of the Philippines and Chair of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Meeting in 2026, Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, will lead the delegation of the ASEAN Secretariat to participate in the 32nd ASEAN Economic Ministers’ (AEM) Retreat 2026, scheduled to be held in Taguig, the Philippines, on 13 March 2026. This year’s Retreat will see discussions on the recent global and regional economic outlook, the Philippines’ Priority Economic Deliverables (PEDs) for its Chairship in 2026 under the theme “Navigating Our Future, Together,” ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Performance Monitoring, as well as a number of key initiatives including the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) negotiations, Timor-Leste’s accession to ASEAN economic agreements, and ASEAN’s external economic relations, among others. The Ministers will also have dialogue sessions with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC), the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), as well as with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
- ABOUT ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, Cambodia on 30 April 1999, and Timor-Leste on 26 October 2025 making up what is today the eleven Member States of ASEAN.
Menu - WHAT WE DO
ASEAN organs always strive to achieve ASEAN’s goals and objectives, the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat shall be functioned as coordinating Secretariat to help facilitate effective decision-making withing and amongst ASEAN bodies. In addition, each Member State shall appoint a Permanent Representative to liaise with Secretary-General of ASEAN and the ASEAN Secretariat
Menu - WHO WE WORK WITH
ASEAN shall develop friendly relations and mutually beneficial dialogues, cooperation and partnerships with countries and sub-regional, regional and international organisations and institutions. This includes external partners, ASEAN entities, human rights bodies, non-ASEAN Member States Ambassadors to ASEAN, ASEAN committees in third countries and international organisations, as well as international / regional organisations.
Menu - OUR COMMUNITIES
The rodmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) was declared by the leaders in 2009. The ASEAN Community, anchored on three community pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community was launched in 2015. The ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together was introduced in 2015 as a Post-2015 Vision. It comprises the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025, the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025
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