Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse left Hanoi for the Philippines on Friday to attend the 30th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Manila from Wednesday to Saturday.

PM Phuc’s participation is made at the invitation of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.

ASEAN is short for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a political and economic organization whose members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Vietnamese delegation includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh, and Ambassador and head of Vietnam’s permanent mission to ASEAN Nguyen Hoanh Nam.

The 30th ASEAN Summit, the first summit in 2017 under the Philippines’s ASEAN chairmanship, will see leaders of the ten ASEAN member countries discuss issues relating to the theme “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.”

The summit is set to focus on such priorities as effectively implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and accompanied plans; enhancing ASEAN’s connectivity, solidarity, consensus and central role; increasing the bloc’s relations with partners; and discussing regional and international issues of shared concern.

PM Phuc is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony, the plenary session and the closing ceremony of the Summit, along with participating in a meeting between ASEAN leaders and representatives of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).

During his stay in the Philippines, the Vietnamese leader will also hold sideline bilateral meetings with some ASEAN leaders.

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