Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Secretary General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Kao Kim Hourn met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to discuss the Philippines’ preparations in hosting the ASEAN meeting.

“I met with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn in Kuala Lumpur on the sidelines of the 58th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting to discuss PH preparations for its 2026 ASEAN chairmanship,” Lazaro said on X (formerly Twitter).

“We count on the ASEAN Secretariat’s support as we prepare for our upcoming Chairmanship to advance a people-oriented, people centered and rules-based ASEAN.”

The Philippines will assume the rotating chairmanship of the 10-member regional organization starting January 2026 and will host preparatory meetings, ministerial meetings and summits, where US President Donald Trump and several leaders from Japan, China and Russia, among others, are expected to attend.

Manila last hosted the ASEAN meetings in 2017.

Lazaro, in her first trip as the Philippines’ top diplomat, is currently in Malaysia for a ministers ministerial meeting and the annual expanded regional security forum that includes ASEAN’s nearly 20 dialogue partners, such as the United States, Japan, China, Australia, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also attending the meetings from July 8 to 12 “to reaffirm Washington’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific,” the State Department said.

The ASEAN member-countries are the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.