This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows a view of the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia. Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries met in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, a day ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries met in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, a day ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit.
Foreign ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam attended the meeting chaired by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in the final preparations for the two-day summit of the ASEAN leaders.
Before the closed-door meeting began, Marsudi stressed ASEAN is currently at a crossroads, with multiple challenges including food and energy crises and global economic slowdown testing its strength as a community.
She urged actions against transnational crimes ranging from terrorism, money laundering to drug and human trafficking, which she said not only threaten peace, stability and prosperity in the region, but also hinder the process of community development.
The summit under Indonesia's ASEAN chairmanship this year is themed "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth." Indonesia has expressed hope that the bloc will remain a center of regional and global growth, laying focus on efforts to make ASEAN a fast-growing, inclusive and sustainable economic region in the long term.
Among issues top on the agenda are ASEAN centrality, financial stability, and green growth.
Earlier, Indonesia is seeking to enhance the regional bloc's institutions and build a solid regional health architecture as part of its efforts to underpin ASEAN's centrality in response to regional challenges, Marsudi said.
The summit is also expected to produce a roadmap for Timor-Leste's full membership.
Last November, ASEAN admitted in principle Timor-Leste to be its 11th member. Timor-Leste's Foreign Minister Adaljiza Magno was welcomed to join her counterparts at the foreign ministers' meeting on Tuesday in an observer status.
Earlier this year, various ministerial meetings were held on topics around the theme of this year's ASEAN summit.
At the end of March, the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to reinforce the use of local currencies in the region and reduce reliance on major international currencies in an effort to ensure financial stability and avoid spillovers such as high inflation from global crisis.
Marsudi said earlier that eight meetings in plenary and retreat formats are scheduled to be held at the 42nd ASEAN Summit, seven of which will be chaired by President Joko Widodo.
The last time Indonesia chaired ASEAN was in 2011, after hosting the summits in 1976 and 2003. The archipelagic country has scheduled the 43rd summit and the East Asia Summit to be held on Sept. 6-7 in national capital Jakarta.
The ASEAN summit is held twice a year. ■
This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows a view of the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia. Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries met in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, a day ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows an interior view of the media center for the ASEAN Summit in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia. Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries met in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, a day ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows an exterior view of the venue for the ASEAN Summit in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia. Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries met in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, a day ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
This photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows an exterior view of the media center for the ASEAN Summit in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia. Foreign ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries met in the town of Labuan Bajo in eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, a day ahead of the 42nd ASEAN Summit. (Xinhua/Xu Qin)
