Activities of Secretary-General in Philippines, 11-14 November

On Saturday, 11 November, United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres left New York for Manila, to participate in the 2017 Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Upon arrival, the Secretary‑General attended a gala dinner with other world leaders celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of ASEAN.

The next day, on Monday, 13 November, he held a series of bilateral meetings with the Prime Ministers of Lao, Thongloun Sisoulith, and Viet Nam, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as well as with the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo.

In the evening, he addressed the ninth ASEAN‑UN Summit, during which he emphasized that partnerships with regional organizations, including ASEAN, are a critical pillar of his proposals to reform the United Nations.  (See Press Release SG/SM/18784.)

Later that evening, following the Summit, the Secretary‑General held a bilateral meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar, to discuss the situation in Rakhine State.  He highlighted that strengthened efforts to ensure humanitarian access, safe, dignified, voluntary and sustained returns, as well as true reconciliation between communities, would be essential.

On Tuesday, 14 November, the Secretary‑General met with the United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as well as with Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, and Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia.

He also participated in a lunch of the East Asia Summit, hosted by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, before leaving Manila for Bonn, in Germany, to attend the twenty-third session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.