Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with the United States

FOREIGN MINISTER SOKHONN:  Thank you (inaudible).  Secretary Marco Rubio, dear colleagues, at the outset, I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Malaysia as ASEAN chair for the excellent arrangement of this meeting.  I wish to extend a warm welcome to Secretary Rubio on his first ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with the United States.

We gather at a moment of increasing global uncertainty, marked by heightened (inaudible) tension, internal challenges, and complex, interconnected transnational issues.  In this evolving environment, the ASEAN-U.S. partnership has proven not only resilient but essential.  Since elevating our relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022, we have made significant progress in turning our shared vision into concrete action.

Over the years, ASEAN and the United States has built a relationship that is both broad in scope and deep in substance.  Our collaboration encompass economic engagement, (inaudible) innovation, combating transnational crime, maritime cooperation, health security, and vibrant people-to-people exchanges.  Together, these effort demonstrate our collective confidence in the enduring future of our strategic partnership.

Today, we reaffirm our determination to deepen and broaden our cooperation even further.  I look forward to a productive discussion that will generate fresh ideas, strengthen mutual trust, and chart a clear course forward.  Thank you.

Now may I invite my co-chair to deliver his opening remarks.  The floor is yours, Secretary Rubio.

SECRETARY RUBIO:  Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Minister.  We’re thankful to Cambodia’s partnership as the U.S. country coordinator in the past year, and we look forward to continuing to work together for the next few years as well in this regard.  We’re also grateful to our host here, Malaysia, for your hospitality, your strong leadership as the chair.  I look forward to working with the Philippines, who will be the chair next year, and we’re excited about that.  Thank you to the ASEAN secretary as well for your support, and a special thanks to the Committee of Permanent Representatives for hard work – the hard work of supporting our partnership work.

I’m honored to represent the administration of President Donald Trump in my first foreign ministerial between ASEAN and the United States.  The Indo-Pacific, the region, remains a focal point of U.S. foreign policy.  When I hear in the news that perhaps the United States or the world might be distracted by events in other parts of the planet, I would say distraction is impossible, because it is our view – our strong view and the reality – that this century and the next – the story of the next 50 years will largely be written here in this region, in this part of the world. 

Because of your youth, because of your – two-thirds of global growth will happen in this region, it is impossible to ignore it, to sideline it, and we have no intention of doing so.  In fact, we intend it to be – a key component of our engagement with the world is to be engaged here in the region.  We’ve been engaged for a very long time.  We have strong partnerships we have no intention of abandoning, but rather strengthening and building upon. 

The United States is a committed partner to ASEAN.  It’s central to the regional architecture that shapes these dynamics.  In fact, ASEAN is the preeminent mechanism by which we engage with a region, a region that we do not consider to be a periphery of any nation-state.  We consider it to be sovereign, independent states with whom we have longstanding relationships and partnerships, and these are relationships and partnerships that we intend to continue to build on without seeking the approval or permission of any other actor in the region or the world.

Together, we believe that in doing this we’re going to be able to advance our common goal and interest, which is a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and that is prosperous, and that is in line with our national priority and objective of promoting the safety, the security, and the prosperity of the people of the United States of America.  Our nearly 50-year partnership demonstrates that there are many areas where our interests align and we can work together to achieve shared goals, and I look forward to discussing areas of cooperation as we advance our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. 

Thank you.  I yield the floor back to the co-chair.

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