Laos PM arrives in Clark for ASEAN Summit

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on Sunday arrived in the Philippines for his participation to the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Other Related Summits. (Photo By Thongloun_Sisoulith_with_Obamas, Public Domain)

CLARK, Pampanga — Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith on Sunday arrived in the Philippines for his participation to the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Other Related Summits.

Sisoulith is the third ASEAN head of state to arrive at the Clark International Airport here. His plane landed at around 10:37 a.m.

The first two ASEAN leaders who arrived Saturday via Clark International Airport were Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Laotian Prime Minister was welcomed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi and some local officials led by Governor Lilia Pineda, Vice Governor Dennis Pineda, Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, and among others.

He was given arrival honors at the airport and greeted with thousands of students-dancers in full colorful costumes that showcase the Philippines’s rich cultures.

Together with other ASEAN heads of state, Sisoulith will attend the Special Gala Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN; East Asia Summit (EAS) Leaders’ Retreat and the opening ceremony of 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.

He is also expected to attend the ASEAN Leaders’ Interface with Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) and the 5th ASEAN-US Summit to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations at the Philippine International Convention Center in Manila.

Sisoulith will also join with other ASEAN leaders in the 20th ASEAN-China Summit; 19th ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit; 20th ASEAN-Japan Summit; 9th Mekong-Japan Summit; 9th ASEAN-UN Summit and 15th ASEAN-India Summit.

The Laotian Prime Minister, along with other regional leaders, will sign the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, a landmark document that further seeks to strengthen social protection, access to justice, humane and fair treatment, and acess to health services for the migrant workers of Southeast Asia.