JAKARTA: The 43rd Asean Summit and Related Summits beginning tomorrow comes in the middle of whirlwind of major events hosted by the Indonesian capital since last month.
Barely two weeks after celebrating the republic's 78th independence, the city is still in a celebratory mood with skyscrapers and roads still draped in lights, flags and banners in the national colours of red and white.
Jakarta is also among three Asian cities hosting 2023 International Basketball Federation (Fiba) World Cup until next week.
It is within this atmosphere that the republic is welcoming the heads of government of Asean and its partner countries.
Besides the thousands of delegates from Asean countries, the Indonesian National Armed Forces and police have deployed more than 20,000 personnel to facilitate security throughout the duration of the four-day summit.
Malaysia's participation is led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who will see him attending several high-level discussions and bilateral meetings.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who visited the summit's venue at the Jakarta Convention Centre on Friday, revealed that development of the Asean economy was high on the agenda of the regional block and its partners this time around.
"It is about growth. Asean as the centre of economic growth.
"Since the beginning, I have emphasised that Asean should not only talk about high-level issues, but also tangible benefits for the people," he told Indonesian media.
Indonesia is this year's Asean chairman and the summit is themed "Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth".
Leaders from 22 countries, comprising the 11 Asean states including its latest member Timor Leste, nine partner countries and two others are attending this summit.
The nine partner countries are Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan, India, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, and the United States.
Indonesia has also invited Bangladesh, which is the chair of the Association of Indian Ocean Rim Countries (IORA), and Cook Island as the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) to take part in the Asean-Indo-Pacific Forum.
The high-level meetings that will be held are the Asean-Republic of Korea Summit, Asean-Japan Summit, Asean-India Summit, Asean-China Summit, Asean-Australia Summit, Asean-Canada Summit, Asean Plus Three (Japan, China and Korea) Summit, Asean-US Summit, Asean-United Nations Summit and East Asia Summit.
Among the notable leaders who will be present are Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US vice-president Kamala Harris and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Indonesia is leading the way in Asean push to strengthen ties beyond in its traditional partners.
This is seen with the Asean-Indo-Pacific Forum, which is a culmination of efforts that began four years ago.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said the forum followed the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific in 2019 document, which was initiated by Indonesia to strengthen economic, social and security ties between he regional block with states in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific regions.
"There is one flagship event, the flagship event is the Asean-Indo Pacific Forum. This is a big forum. The aim is to translate the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific in 2019 which was initiated by Indonesia. This is its derivative.
"We already have the concept, we already have the outlook for 2019, now we are translating it into concrete cooperation," she said.
Retno also confirmed the participation of United Nations secretary-general António Guterres, and other representatives from eight other international organisations such as the World Bank, International Monetory Fund, World Economic Forum who are attending the summit.
