PM to attend East Asia Summit

Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern

Prime Minister

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern travels to Bangkok later this week for the annual East Asia Summit. The Prime Minister’s priorities will be discussing the key strategic and security issues of the Indo-Pacific, and continuing to strengthen New Zealand’s relationships with regional partners.

“The security challenges facing our region – be it nuclear proliferation; terrorism and violent extremism; maritime security or climate change – are too big for any country to tackle alone,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“I will be emphasising to other leaders in the region that now, more than ever, these challenges require collective action.

“New Zealand has benefitted greatly from taking collaborative approaches. We will continue to resolutely support the international rules-based system, which is essential to our prosperity and security.

“The East Asia Summit has a role to play in preventing and solving the region’s most pressing strategic risks,” Jacinda Ardern said.

The Prime Minister will have several bilateral meetings and deliver a keynote address at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.

The Prime Minister will arrive in Bangkok on November 3 and depart on November 4. Winston Peters will be Acting Prime Minister during this time.

Note to editors:

• Established in 2005, the East Asia Summit is now the premier Leader level political and security forum in the Indo-Pacific.

• Leaders meet annually and discuss issues and emerging challenges that concern them the most. There is no formal agenda.

• Cooperation is promoted, and Leaders’ direction is provided on six priority areas: environment and energy, education, health, finance, disaster risk management and connectivity.

• The East Asia Summit has ten ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam); plus eight dialogue partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, US).

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