PRESS RELEASE

PR-079-2023

(3 June 2023, Singapore) Senator Loren Legarda, a four-term Senator of the Philippines and currently the Senate President Pro Tempore, in a speech during the Special Session on “Balancing Asia-Pacific Minilateralism and ASEAN Centrality” of the  20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, underscored that minilateral cooperation can be viewed as an arrangement that can complement and supplement ASEAN regional initiatives, and that it must not, and will not diminish the significant role of ASEAN in the region. 

Senator Legarda also expressed that through ASEAN-led  institutions, ASEAN has helped shape the balance of power and paved the way in maintaining regional peace, security and stability. She noted ASEAN’s significant role in forging cooperation in many key areas such as food and energy security, economic recovery, transnational crime and protection of migrant workers. The Senator emphasized that ASEAN must be engaged and involved in discussions as it continues to play its centrality role. 

Senator Legarda was joined in the special session by her fellow government leaders and foreign policy practitioners, namely, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN;  Secretary Jan Adams, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia;  Pornpimol Kanchanalak, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand; Ms. Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Minister of State, Indo-Pacific, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK;  Sidharto R Suryodipuro, Chair, ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting; and Director General, ASEAN Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia. 

For  more information on the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, please  visit:  https://www.iiss.org/events/shangri-la-dialogue/shangri-la-dialogue-2023/

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