Regional leaders will gather in Singapore from 25-28 April for the ASEAN Summit and related meetings, during which they will discuss the grouping’s top priorities, programmes and challenges.

One of the first to arrive is Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, whose visit comes as Singapore and Vietnam mark 45 years of diplomatic ties, and five years since their ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2013. Economic cooperation will be high on Mr Phuc’s agenda for his first visit to Singapore since becoming Vietnam’s Prime Minister in 2016. The two countries are set to ink deals in a range of fields, from fintech and banking supervision to renewable energy and trade standards.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will chair the summit, the first meeting of ASEAN’s top leaders in Singapore in its year chairing the group. As chairman, Singapore is keen to develop a network of smart cities across ASEAN and boost the region’s cybersecurity. The leaders are expected to endorse and release statements outlining their vision to make ASEAN more resilient and innovative. They are also likely to agree on details of the preliminary phase of the ASEAN smart cities network, and issue a statement on the network and on cyber-security cooperation.

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