A total of nine Southeastern Asian nation leaders are in Melbourne for the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)-Australia Special Summit, marking the 50th anniversary of the ASEAN-Australia dialogue partnership. The summit is also the largest ASEAN-Australia diplomatic meeting in the country since 2018.
The summit began on March 4th and will conclude on March 6th. Presidents and Prime Ministers (PM) from the following nations will be attending: Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Cambodian PM Hun Manet, Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Vietnamese PM Pham Minh Chinh, Laotian PM Sonexay Siphandone, Thai PM Srettha Thavisin, and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah. Officials from Myanmar also attended the summit in an unofficial capacity due to the country being excluded due to its ongoing civil war.
Topics discussed will vary among each country’s leaders and officials; most will deal with economics, ongoing global conflicts, foreign relations, regional issues, disputes over maritime borders, etc.
