The 42nd ASEAN Summit will be held in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai district, East Nusa Tenggara province on May 10-11, 2023.

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo chaired a limited meeting on preparations for holding the 42nd ASEAN Summit, Thursday (April 27) at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

In the meeting, the president confirmed the readiness to hold the 42nd ASEAN Summit which will be held in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai district, East Nusa Tenggara province on May 10-11, Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno LP Marsudi said in a statement after attending the limited meeting, as quoted by Indonesia Window on Saturday.

"The president chaired a limited meeting and checked everything in detail, including matters related to security, infrastructure, health, and so on, the point of which is that everything is on the right track," the foreign minister said.

She pointed out that during the two days of holding the Summit, President Widodo would attend eight meetings, seven of which would be chaired directly by the president.

The meetings will include plenary and retreat sessions, the IMT-GT (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle) meeting, the BIMP-EAGA meeting (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area), as well as a series of meetings with the parliament, business people, youth, and a high-level task force tasked with preparing ASEAN's long-term vision, the foreign minister noted.

"So there will be a total of eight meetings, seven of which will be chaired by the president, because the BIMP-EAGA will be chaired by the PM (Prime Minister) of Malaysia, as the rotation of the chairmanship of BIMP-EAGA currently is on Malaysia," the foreign minister explained.

Regarding the location for the 42nd Summit, Retno said that Labuan Bajo was chosen to promote this tourist destination globally.

“So Indonesia has many (destinations). So, we will do it this time in Labuan Bajo," she said.

Regarding the substance of the 42nd ASEAN Summit, Retno emphasized that Indonesia's chairmanship in 2023 will encourage a stronger ASEAN region in facing challenges and strengthening ASEAN's economic resilience, in line with the theme ‘ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth’.

"For the 42^nd summit, the concentration is on 'ASEAN Matters' and 'Epicentrum of Growth'. In 'ASEAN Matters' the document is related to ASEAN's efforts to improve, strengthen itself, so that it is able to face future challenges. The 'Epicentrum of Growth' is related to ASEAN's economic resilience," she said.

Indonesia's chairmanship in ASEAN encourages improvement of the health architecture, increasing energy security including the development of ecosystems for electric vehicles or electric vehicles (EV), food security, and financial stability.

The minister said that the document that will become the agreement of the ASEAN leaders is currently being discussed at the senior officials meeting (SOM) level, which will then be discussed at the ministerial level.

Retno also mentioned the ASEAN Post-2025 vision in which Indonesia’s chairmanship is aimed at realizing ASEAN’s concrete cooperation projects on various fields, including an initiative in the health sector, promoting EV battery for a clean economy, and promoting the use of local currencies.

Editing by Indonesia Window