6 August 2018
Your Excellency Secretary-General Chen Dehai,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of my ASEAN colleagues, allow me to congratulate Your Excellency, Mr. Chen Dehai, for your assumption to the post of Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre. I have no doubt that your extensive experience dealing with Southeast Asian affairs, as well as the personal friendships with Southeast Asians throughout your previous postings in our region will be a great asset to the Centre. We look forward to working with you closely.
ASEAN highly appreciates China’s enduring support for ASEAN centrality through the years. Last year, China joined all our Member-States and dialogue partners in celebrating ASEAN’s 50th anniversary.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership between ASEAN and China. We have come a long way since this partnership was first established.
During our chairmanship last year, we have made great strides in our cooperation to achieve peace and stability in the South China Sea through the COC process, and in our efforts to further our development goals through enhanced partnerships on areas such as tourism, trade, connectivity, innovation, and people-to-people exchanges.
I am confident that further progress will be made under Singapore’s able leadership this year. The Philippines is likewise prepared to do its part as coordinator of ASEAN-China dialogue relations.
On this note, I join my ASEAN colleagues in welcoming the new Secretary-General of the ASEAN-China Centre, Mr. Chen Dehai, in this milestone year marking the commencement of the next fifteen years of ASEAN-China strategic partnership aimed at further improving the lives of our people and forging even stronger relations between ASEAN and China.
I would like to assure you, Mr. Secretary-General, that you have our full support.
Thank you and as we say in the Philippines, Mabuhay!
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