President Joko Widodo graces 56th ASEAN Day celebrations

JAKARTA, 8 August 2023 - The grounds of ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) were once again filled with colours and pageantry when it celebrated ASEAN's 56th anniversary at its headquarters in Jakarta today. President Joko Widodo of the Republic of Indonesia, joined by his Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, graced the event along with the Secretary-General (SG) of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn and the diplomatic community based in the Indonesian capital.

This year's anniversary carried the theme "Epicentrum of Growth" in line with Indonesia's ASEAN Chairmanship 2023 theme "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth".

In his welcome remarks, SG Dr Kao Kim Hourn highlighted ASEAN's progress over the years, saying "ASEAN has come a long way since 8 August 1967, and has since grown into a full-fledged ASEAN Community made up of ten Member States, with Timor Leste set to join as our 11th member…In a region that is as diverse as Southeast Asia, the success of ASEAN would not have been possible without the strong determination and commitment by Member States to work together."

''Under Indonesia's Chairmanship of ASEAN this year and guided by the theme "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth", ASEAN has further strengthened cooperation to sustain its relevance in responding to regional and global challenges, and in maintaining economic development, and prosperity for the benefits to its populace," Dr. Kao added.

In his keynote address, President Joko Widodo expressed that, ''56 years ago, ASEAN was formed with the determination to make Southeast Asia a peaceful, stable and prosperous region, and today I want us to reaffirm that spirit and determination.''

''Indeed, the challenges of today's global dynamics are not easy, the global economy has not fully recovered, rivalry getting sharper, but I believe ASEAN is capable, as long as ASEAN is united,'' he further added.

The celebration culminated with the ceremonial cutting of the nasi tumpeng,a cone-shaped rice dish ever-present during special occasions in Indonesia, and ended with a musical performance by young angklung players from Sekolah Perkumpulan Mandiri Jakarta. The celebration was broadcast live through ASEAN's website and social media channels.

Embedded to the celebration was the Strategic Discussion: Toward the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum 2023 organised by the Indonesian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The speakers included M Arsjad Rasjid, Chair of Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mahendra Siregar, Chair of Indonesian Financial Service Authority, and Ajeng Parameswari, President of Digital Business (Bioskop Online & VCampus), Visinema.

Earlier in the day, President Widodo along with SG of ASEAN, Minister Marsudi, ASEAN ambassadors and ambassadors of ASEAN's formal partners took the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) from Bundaran HI station to attend the 56th ASEAN anniversary celebration at ASEC. Before boarding the MRT, Jokowi was given a special ASEAN MRT card launched specifically to celebrate ASEAN Day.

Concurrent with the celebration were two separate events, namely, the Second ASEAN-Maybank Scholarship (AMS) ceremony that saw the awarding of bursaries to five (5) ASEAN nationals. The AMS is the first scholarship programme between the ASEAN Secretariat with an ASEAN accredited entity.

The other event is the launch of the fourth annual ASEAN Online Sale Day (AOSD), the largest online shopping event in Southeast Asia. AOSD brings together the best of ASEAN goods and services from across the region on a single e-commerce platform. The initiative hopes to further accelerate the regional trajectory towards digital platforms and encourage consumers and businesses to engage in e-commerce given the role of digital integration as a key driver of ASEAN's economic growth.

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