Ambassador Buensuceso hands over the ceremonial gavel to Ambassador Tan with Secretary-General Minh, Deputy Secretary-General Hirubalan, Deputy Secretary-General Mochtan, and members of the CPR as witnesses.

H.E. Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, the Permanent Representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, handed over her duties as the Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) to H.E. Tan Hung Seng, the Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN, at the ASEAN Secretariat on 8 December 2017. The Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Le Luong Minh, and the Permanent Representatives of other ASEAN Member States witnessed the ceremony.

In her remarks, Ambassador Buensuceso highlighted how honored she was to have chaired the CPR during ASEAN’s 50^th Anniversary, and thanked the members of the CPR and the ASEAN Secretariat for their support throughout 2017. In the past year, the CPR engaged with approximately 30 external partners and successfully negotiated more than 40 documents in line with the Philippine Chairmanship theme of “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World”. The CPR also coordinated region-wide commemorative activities for the 50^th anniversary of ASEAN throughout the year.

In his remarks, Ambassador Tan congratulated the Philippines for its successful Chairmanship of ASEAN during its Golden Jubilee and introduced Singapore’s twin themes of “Resilience” and Innovation” in 2018 as ASEAN begins its next 50 years.

Ambassador Buensuceso receives a painting as a gift from Ambassador Tan.

Ambassador Buensuceso concurrently chaired the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC), the CPR Plus Three Meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Ambassadors’ Meeting in Jakarta, and the Governing Council of the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) in 2017. Ambassador Tan will also concurrently chair the same committees during his  term as Chair of the CPR.

Singapore’s ASEAN Chairmanship will officially begin on 1 January 2018.