Day: January 13, 2023

JAKARTA– Indonesia has already begun its preparation for hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, which will take place in the country’s eastern province of East Nusa Tenggara in May, with the theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth.”

As Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia has taken over the chairmanship of the regional bloc for 2023 from Cambodia, where the ASEAN Summit was held last Nov. The country formally commenced its ASEAN chairmanship, on the first day of this year.

The last time Indonesia chaired ASEAN was in 2011.

Other ASEAN members had high expectations for Indonesia’s chairmanship, since the archipelagic country managed to host the world’s influential Group of 20 Summit last year, amid global challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, that have led to an enduring global food and energy crisis.

After completing the G20 presidency on the island of Bali, one of the world’s best tourist destinations, in Oct, 2022, Indonesia has chosen its other tourist destination of Labuan Bajo, in East Nusa Tenggara province, as the location for the ASEAN summit.

Labuan Bajo, the gateway to the popular Komodo National Park, is one of the “10 New Bali” choices, a government-designated priority destinations spanning across the archipelago.

In past years, Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, said, developments on Labuan Bajo must be accelerated, as the tourism destination will host international events in the years to come.

Last week, Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, was in Labuan Bajo for a three-day-visit, as a part of her tour to inspect its readiness to host the bloc’s biannual summit. She reportedly visited some facilities, such as hotels, convention centres and tourist spots that will be used.

At the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia last year, the leaders of the group agreed “in principle” to admit Timor-Leste as their 11th member.

Minister Marsudi said on Wednesday that, Indonesia, as the ASEAN chair this year, is aiming to make the bloc strong and become a barometer of cooperation, that can contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

With the theme “ASEAN Matters,” Indonesia is determined to make the group remain important and relevant to the people, both within and outside ASEAN.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR— Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim congratulated Michelle Yeoh on being the first Malaysian to win the Best Actress award in a musical or comedy film at the 2023 Golden Globes for her role in ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ in Los Angeles.

In his Facebook posting, Anwar hoped that Michelle Yeoh’s achievements would inspire local cultural activists and artistes to continue working and nurturing creative and quality talent.

“I applaud cultural icon and actress Michelle Yeoh on her great achievement in the film industry in winning the trophy for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.

“Michelle’s great accomplishment in winning the Golden Globe award makes the country and Malaysians especially film buffs very proud,” he said adding that he would also be watching the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once soon.

The 60-year-old actress made history Tuesday after becoming Malaysia’s first-ever Golden Globe award winner.

Michelle Yeoh beat other nominees including Lesley Manville for the film Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, Margot Robbie (Babylon), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Menu), and Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) in the category.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

PASAY CITY 13 January 2022 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has assured the public that its Embassies and Consulates will continue to provide assistance to overseas Filipino workers until the new Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is ready to fully take over such function.

Under Republic Act No. 11641, the DMW is mandated to take over the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) functions from the DFA, through the establishment of Migrant Workers Offices (MWO’s) overseas. For this purpose, the Congress has allocated the DMW with an ASKYON Fund under Section 14 of said law.

The DMW has formally constituted its Migrant Workers Offices in places with large concentrations of Filipinos and is currently in the process of hiring employees, who will be trained by DFA personnel to assume all ATN functions and obligations under the relevant provisions of RA 11641.

In the meantime, as a demonstration of the Government’s commitment to the welfare of overseas Filipino workers, the DFA and DMW have mutually agreed to come up with a joint agreement which would allow the DFA to continue funding all assistance to migrant workers until such time that the DMW has completed setting up its operations for disbursing its AKSYON Fund through their overseas MWOs.

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Eduardo José A. de Vega explained, “Under RA 11641, the DMW is mandated to disburse its AKSYON Fund for overseas contract workers, while the DFA is mandated to disburse its ATN Fund and Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) only for overseas Filipinos other than contract workers, or for all overseas Filipinos situated in places without a resident Migrant Workers Office. Now with this agreement to be signed with the DMW, the DFA will be provided legal basis to continue using our ATN and LAF funds to assist all overseas Filipinos, including contract workers, in the interim period, which should last until the end of March 2023.”

He added, “Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has identified the protection and promotion of the welfare of overseas Filipinos as a priority of his administration. The DFA remains committed to doing our part to help the President achieve this objective.”

Source: Republic of Philippines Department Of Foreign Affairs

SEREMBAN, Jan 13 (Bernama) — Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, received a warm welcome from the Friday prayers congregation at the Dato’ Klana Petra Mohd Yusof Mosque, Sikamat near here, today.

Those present did not miss the opportunity to shake hands and take photographs with Anwar, who arrived at about 1.10 pm accompanied by Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun.

This is Anwar‘s first visit to Negeri Sembilan after being appointed Prime Minister in November last year.

The head imam of the mosque, Ustaz Najib Nubhan Khairuddin, representing the entire congregation, said that they were honoured to welcome the Prime Minister to perform Friday prayers at the more than 20-year-old mosque.

He said that Anwar was the second country’s leader to visit the mosque, after former prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“Alhamdulillah we are pleased to welcome the country’s top leader, the Prime Minister, and it is hoped that his presence will bring good to this state, Insya-Allah,” he told reporters.

The Friday sermon, titled ‘Kesyukuran Pemangkin Kemakmuran’, was delivered by Najib Nubhan in front of about 4,000 congregants. Ustaz Muhammad Umar Sohaib Abu Hanifah led the prayers.

Earlier today, Anwar spent time mingling with the people of the state, and had a meal at the Cendol Songkok Tinggi stall in Kampung Jiboi Baru, here.

Source: Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia

On 11 December 2022, H.E. Mr. Saif Abdulla Mohammed Khalfan Alshamisi, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Thailand, paid a farewell call on H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, on the completion of almost eight years of his tour of duty in Thailand. After the meeting, DPM/FM Don also hosted a luncheon in honor of H.E. the Ambassador of the UAE.

At the meeting, DPM/FM Don stressed the importance of the UAE as the most important economic partner of Thailand which is ranked No.1 in the Middle East and enjoyed a high volume of bilateral trade amounting to US$20 billion in 2022. He commended the Ambassador’s active role in promoting closer bilateral relations in all areas during the eight years of his tenure and reiterated that both sides should maintain the positive momentum to further strengthen Thai – Emirati relations in the area of mutual interests, particularly tourism, medical treatment, food and energy security, and economic linkage between Thailand and the UAE.

The UAE Ambassador emphasized the importance of business and trade relations between the two countries and Thailand’s economic potential of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and the Halal hub in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand. Both sides appreciated the longstanding relationship between the two countries, especially the successful Joint Commission meetings and the exchanges of high-level visits during his ambassadorship.

Both sides highlighted the importance of strengthening the role of ASEAN in finding practical solutions to the situation in Myanmar and promoting the dynamic of the ASEAN – GCC cooperation based on consultation and close cooperation.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand