ASEAN-Australia Special Summit to be held in Sydney this March

A new era in ASEAN-Australia relations is at hand as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull welcomes ASEAN leaders to Sydney on March 17 and 18 for the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR AMANDA GORELY re-affirmed the dates for this year’s ASEAN-Australia Special Summit during the Journalist’s reception held at the Australian Ambassador’s official residence last January 23.

“Building on our deep legacy of economic cooperation, political dialogue, and the interweaving of our people, the Special Summit aims to establish a contemporary, outward-looking partnership that will respond to the challenges of a rapidly-changing Indo-Pacific region,” the Australian government said in a statement issued during the annual journalist’s reception held at the Australian Ambassador’s official residence last January 23.

The special summit will focus on improving security and prosperity within the region by having leaders from different ASEAN countries engage in talks with Australia’s top brass from both the government and private sectors.

Two events will be held during the summit: the ASEAN-Australia Business Summit and the ASEAN-Australia Counter-Terrorism conference.

AUSTRALIAN BUSINESS LEADERS. Several representatives from Australian companies held a roundtable discussion with business journalists prior to the reception.

The Business Summit will have three main engagements:

• a CEO Forum consisting of over 100 CEOs from ASEAN and Australia that will gather the best minds in the region to talk about topics vital to deepening economic integration, including agri-business supply chains, infrastructure, digital transformation, future energy, tourism, and aviation
• an SME conference, to boost Australian exporters’ awareness of the opportunities in ASEAN markets
• A Women in Business Breakfast which will reinforce the central role of empowering women to as a driver for regional growth and prosperity.

The Counter-Terrorism conference, which will happen ahead of the summit, looks to gather senior defense officials of ASEAN countries and Australia under one roof. This conference will focus on strengthening ties within the region to combat terrorism, including counter-terrorism financing and ways to counter extremism.

JOURNALISTS POSE FOR A PHOTO with Ambassador Gorely and Clare Duffield, Counselor for Political and Public Affairs.

Another highlight of the summit is the ASEAN-Australia Week, a series of academic, educational, sporting, and cultural events happening from March 12 to 18. It seeks to highlight how deep and diverse the links are between the people of ASEAN countries and Australia. It will also showcase how engaged Australian institutions are with Southeast Asia.

This summit is a first for Australia as it will be the first time the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit will be held in Australia. The first ASEAN-Australia summit was held in Vientiane, Laos back in September 2016.