Malacañang has confirmed that President Duterte will participate in the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit on Nov. 25-26, 2021 via video conference.
"The President will join his counterparts from Asia and Europe in an exchange of views on multilateralism, growth and sustainable development," read a Palace statement sent to reporters on Wednesday night, Nov. 24.
The 13th ASEM Summit will be chaired by the Kingdom of Cambodia. The event will carry the theme “Strengthening Multilateralism for Shared Growth”.
"President Duterte is scheduled to speak on rebuilding a resilient future as well as on international and regional issues at the second plenary and retreat sessions of the summit on Nov. 26, 2021," the Palace said.
Duterte, 76, also made virtual participations in recent international events such as the United Nations General Assembly, the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits, and the just-concluded ASEAN-China Special Summit.
ASEM is an informal dialogue process involving 53 partners from Europe, Asia, the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat, which aims to strengthen cooperation between the two regions in the spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership.
The Philippines joined ASEM in 1996 as one of its founding members.
ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional bloc that was also partly founded by the Philippines.