On 9 - 11 September 2025, Mrs. Eksiri Pintaruchi, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, attended the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (ASEAN SOM), the ASEAN Plus Three Preparatory Senior Officials’ Meeting (APT Prep-SOM), and the East Asia Summit Preparatory Senior Officials’ Meeting (EAS Prep-SOM) in Port Dickson, Malaysia. The meetings were held in preparation for the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur.

The meetings discussed key issues, including preparations related to Timor-Leste’s membership in ASEAN, applications by various countries to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), development of the Complementarities Initiative 2.0—linking the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ASEAN’s relations with external partners, and the revitalisation of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) as a framework for political and security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Permanent Secretary also held bilateral meetings with: (1) H.E. Ms. Michelle Chan, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia; (2) H.E. Mr. Kevin Kim, Senior Bureau Official of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs of the United States Department of State; (3) H.E. Mr. Namazu Hiroyuki, Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan; and (4) H.E. Mr. Deng Xijun, Special Envoy on Asian Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. She also took this opportunity to engage informally with other ASEAN SOM leaders.

Photo Courtesy of Huzaini, MOFA Malaysia