Jakarta – The 43rd ASEAN Summit 2023 was opened by the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The opening of the high-level meeting of ASEAN heads of state was held in the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) area, Senayan, Jakarta. In his speech, the President emphasized that ASEAN remains united and well maintained.
“As a family and as Chair of ASEAN, I emphasize that ASEAN unity is still well maintained,” the President said at the opening of the 43rd ASEAN Summit on Tuesday (5/9) at the JCC Jakarta.
In his opening speech, President Jokowi emphasized that Indonesia values unity as harmony in differences, including differences of opinion. Because differences of opinion actually nourish democracy and show that we as a family have an equal position.
“In fact, equality is the main value that we respect and uphold together within the framework of unity and togetherness so that the big ship of ASEAN can continue to move forward?” added President Jokowi.
President Jokowi also emphasized that currently the world is not in a good state, and the challenges ahead will be enormous. However, ASEAN has agreed not to become a proxy field for anyone, and become a rival for anyone, and is ready to collaborate with other countries.
For this reason, the Head of State added that these various challenges could be overcome if all ASEAN countries could truly unite.
“I am sure that we believe that ASEAN can do so as long as one key is unity. ASEAN is able to become a central player in bringing peace and economic growth to the Southeast Asian region,” said the president.
President Jokowi closed his speech by officially opening the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta which was greeted enthusiastically by the heads of state and all the delegates present.
“I hereby declare that the 43rd ASEAN Summit is open,” said the President when opening the 43rd ASEAN Summit at the JCC Jakarta.
During the 43rd Summit, President Jokowi will chair 12 meetings in both plenary and retreat formats. Jokowi will also chair all meetings with ASEAN partner countries.
For information, a total of 22 countries were present, there were 11 ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Timor Leste.
Then, there were nine countries whose partners were invited including the Republic of Korea, India, Japan, China, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Russia and the United States (US).
With the addition of two more countries, namely, Bangladesh as Chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and Cook Islands as Chair of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF).
