The key facts

  • The 49th ASEAN summit is taking place in Manila on November 15–17 under the chairmanship of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
  • Trump, Lula da Silva, Mark Carney and Kristalina Georgieva are announced as the chair's guests
  • Myanmar is represented by a foreign ministry department director, as the country's leaders have been barred from the summits since 2021

The Manila Summit

The Philippines is hosting the 49th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its associated meetings from November 15 to 17. According to Anadolu, citing a statement by the Philippine government,the program will open on Sunday with an opening ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila, followed by plenary sessions and retreat-format sessions. The summit is held under the motto “Navigating Our Future, Together,” with the chairmanship held by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Who Is Coming

The summit brings together representatives of the association's eleven members: Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. The chair's guests will be US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva; according to the outlet, the latter three will also speak at the plenary session. Chinese State Council Premier Li Qiang has confirmed his participation; Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and New Zealand by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Myanmar and the Agenda

Myanmar at the summit is represented by the director of the ASEAN affairs department of its foreign ministry: since 2021, after the military removed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, the association has barred the country's leaders from its highest-level meetings. According to Anadolu's assessment, the main topics will likely be the crisis in Myanmar, energy security, critical minerals and great-power rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region. Discussion of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Digital Economy is also expected — the world's first binding regional agreement in this field. In addition to the leaders, participants will meet with ASEAN parliamentarians, business representatives and youth delegates.

Partner Meetings and Trump's Visit

From Monday to Tuesday, the so-called “plus one” summits will take place with the association's dialogue partners: Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, the United States and the UN. On Tuesday, Marcos convened the 29th ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the 21st East Asia Summit — the leading leaders' forum on the region's strategic, political and economic issues. The same day will feature the closing ceremony and the handover of the chairmanship to Singapore, and the day will conclude with a special ASEAN–US summit with Trump's participation. For the US president, this is his first visit to Manila since 2017; after the summit he will travel to Shenzhen for the APEC summit. To ease traffic and ensure the security of delegations, the authorities declared November 16–18 non-working days in the Manila metropolitan region.