ASEAN leaders including Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam and Philippines heads depart after three-day summit with Malaysia as 2025 chair.
SEPANG: ASEAN leaders and their delegations have returned home following the conclusion of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr were among those who departed.
All leaders received a ceremonial red carpet send-off at the Bunga Raya Complex in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
A guard of honour consisting of 28 officers and personnel from the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment was mounted for the occasion.
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Manet departed at 5.35 pm aboard a special aircraft with Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad seeing him off.
Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming bid farewell to the Singaporean Prime Minister who boarded a commercial flight from KLIA Terminal 1 at 8.30 pm.
The Vietnamese Prime Minister left at 8.30 pm with Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh attending the send-off.
Marcos and his Philippine delegation departed from the Bunga Raya Complex at 11 pm.
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Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said bid farewell to the Philippine delegation which will assume the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2026.
Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta is scheduled to depart later tonight with his flight set for 1.30 am.
The three-day regional meeting was held under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2025 with the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability”.
Malaysia’s chairmanship has produced two landmark achievements so far.
Timor-Leste’s admission as ASEAN’s 11th member state represents a significant expansion of the regional bloc.
The signing of the KL Peace Accord between Cambodia and Thailand marks another major diplomatic accomplishment.
This marks the fifth time Malaysia has assumed the ASEAN Chair since the bloc’s establishment in 1967.
Malaysia previously chaired ASEAN in 1977, 1997, 2005 and 2015. – Bernama
