ASEAN leaders discuss labor productivity, proper conduct, environmentalism, and security.

• • Philippines calls for ‘upgrade of worker skills’ in ASEAN

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte asks other Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders for support in enhancing human development in the workforce.

• • Philippines pushes digitalization in Asean meet

President Duterte will push for cooperation among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member-states in a seamless transition into the fourth industrial revolution (IR) during 34th ASEAN Summit here this weekend.

• • ASEAN leaders proclaim ‘ASEAN Cultural Year 2019’

The cultural heritage and diversity of the Southeast Asian nations will be further promoted and protected following the declaration of 2019 as the “cultural year” of the region.

• • PRRD disappointed over delay in ASEAN Code of Conduct

President Rodrigo Duterte was dismayed over the delay in the passage of the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Sunday.

• • Among world’s worst polluters, ASEAN vows to tackle ocean waste

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to sign a ‘Bangkok Declaration’ on fighting maritime waste – a first of its kind – which promises to ‘prevent and significantly reduce marine debris’.

• • Security risks top of mind in ASEAN

HEADS of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday led off the ASEAN Leaders’ Vision Statement on Partnership for Sustainability with pledges to “strengthen defense cooperation to tackle traditional and non-traditional security challenges”; “enhance strategic dialogue and promote practical cooperation on regional defense and security issues”; “reaffirm the importance of maintaining and promoting peace, security, safety and freedom of navigation in and overflight above the South China Sea”; promote guidelines to avert “unplanned encounters at sea”; to “combat terrorism in all its forms” and to “enhance cybersecurity cooperation” besides a host of more general resolutions in the economic, social and cultural spheres.

• • DTI, Asean working to conclude RCEP

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), along with other trade agencies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is committed to push for the conclusion of the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) this year.