PM Lee to visit Japan for ASEAN commemorative summit

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make a four-day working visit to Tokyo to attend a summit commemorating relations between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

Mr Lee will visit the Japanese capital from Dec 15 to Dec 18 to attend the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Year of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Thursday (Dec 14). 

“At the commemorative summit, ASEAN and Japan will discuss ways to deepen and broaden the ASEAN-Japan Dialogue Partnership, including in emerging areas such as the digital and green economies,” PMO said. 

It added that Japanese and Southeast Asian leaders will also discuss “regional and global issues of mutual concern”. 

The summit will be co-chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, according to a statement from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

“During this historic commemorative summit, a joint statement, which will set out a new vision for the future, and its implementation plan including a wide range of concrete cooperation will be adopted as its outcome documents,” said the foreign ministry.

Mr Lee will also have bilateral meetings with Mr Kishida and “other Japanese personalities” while he is in Tokyo, PMO said.

He will be accompanied on the trip by Mrs Lee, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan and other officials. 

Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean will be Acting Prime Minister during Mr Lee’s absence.