The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a regional forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian and Oceanian regions, based on the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism. Membership expanded to 18 countries including Russia and the United States at the Sixth EAS in 2011. Since its establishment, ASEAN has held the central role and leadership in the forum. EAS meetings are held after the annual ASEAN leaders' meetings, and plays an important role in the regional architecture of Asia-Pacific. The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.
History History prior to the first East Asia Summit The concept of an East Asia Grouping has significant history going back to an idea first promoted in 1991 by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
The final report in 2002 of the East Asian Study Group, established by the ASEAN Plus Three countries, was based on an EAS involving ASEAN Plus Three, therefore not involving Australia, New Zealand, or India. The EAS as proposed was to be an ASEAN-led development, with the summit to be linked to ASEAN summit meetings. However, the issue was to which countries beyond those in ASEAN the EAS was to be extended.
The decision to hold the EAS was reached during the 2004 ASEAN Plus Three summit and the initial 16 members determined at the ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting held in Laos at the end of July 2005.
Credit for advancing the forum during the 2004 ASEAN Plus Three summit has been attributed to Malaysia.
Annual summits # Date Country Host Host leader Note 1st 14 December 2005 Kuala Lumpur Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the summit as guest. 2nd 15 January 2007 Mandaue President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Rescheduled from 13 December 2006 due to Typhoon Seniang. Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security 3rd 21 November 2007 Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the EnvironmentAgreed to establish Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia 4th 25 October 2009 Cha-am & Hua Hin Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Thailand was initially to host the summit in 2008. It was announced in late October 2008 that the summit would be shifted from Bangkok to Chiang Mai due to concerns about political unrest in Bangkok. 5th 30 October 2010 Hanoi President Nguyễn Minh Triết The United States Secretary of State and the Foreign Minister of Russia attended. The United States and Russia to join the summit at the Sixth EAS. 6th 18–19 November 2011 Bali President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono The United States and Russia joined the summit. 7th 19–20 November 2012 Phnom Penh Prime Minister Hun Sen The ongoing tensions arising from the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea overshadowed the effort to advance the trade and economic arrangements between members of the summit. 8th 9–10 October 2013 Bandar Seri Begawan Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah 9th 12–13 November 2014 (Burma) Nay Pyi Taw President Thein Sein 10th 21–22 November 2015 Kuala Lumpur Prime Minister Najib Razak 11th 6–8 September 2016 Vientiane Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith 12th 13–14 November 2017 Pasay President Rodrigo Duterte Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the summit as a guest. 13th 14–15 November 2018 Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Russian President Vladimir Putin attended the event. 14th 4 November 2019 Bangkok Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha 15th 14 November 2020 Hanoi (as Chair's venue) Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc The summit was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hosted by Vietnam, where the summit was initially scheduled to take place. 16th 26–27 October 2021 Bandar Seri Begawan (as Chair's venue) Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah The summit was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and hosted by Brunei, where the summit was initially scheduled to take place. Since 2021, Myanmar junta leaders have been excluded from the summit following the 2021 coup d'état. 17th 12–13 November 2022 Phnom Penh Prime Minister Hun Sen The European Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation attended the summit as guests. 18th 6–7 September 2023 Jakarta President Joko Widodo 19th 10–11 October 2024 Vientiane Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone 20th 26–28 October 2025 Kuala Lumpur Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim 21st 16–18 November 2026 Manila President Bongbong Marcos
Early summits
Prior to the first meeting there was significant discussion as to which countries should be represented. At the time there were difficulties in the relationship between the "Plus Three" members (i.e. Japan, China and South Korea) of ASEAN Plus Three, and the perception that India and Australia and to a lesser extent New Zealand were present to balance the growing China power all meant the first meeting's achievements were limited. Russia expressed early interest in EAS membership and attended the first EAS as an observer at the invitation of 2005 EAS host Malaysia.
The next EAS was to be held on 13 December 2006 in Metro Cebu, Philippines. After the confidence building of the inaugural EAS the 2006 EAS will help to define the future role of the EAS, its relationship with ASEAN Plus Three and the involvement of Russia in EAS. However, in the face of Tropical Typhoon Utor the summit was postponed until January 2007. It was rescheduled for 15 January 2007, approximately a month after the original scheduled date.
Internal issues
Internal ASEAN issues were significant for the next Summits. The issues of Myanmar (Burma), following the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests, and climate change were expected to be discussed at the Third EAS. Myanmar successfully blocked formal discussion of its internal affairs.
The summit did issue the Singapore Declaration on Climate Change, Energy and the Environment.
The Summit also agreed to the establishment of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia and to receive the final report on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia at the Fourth EAS.
The outcomes are summarised in the
The Fourth EAS was significantly delayed and its location changed a number of times due to internal tensions in Thailand, the host nation. In the lead up to the summit there were several border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. The summit however is said to be used as an opportunity for discussions on the sidelines between the respective nation's leaders. The summit was cancelled following protesters taking over the summit's venue on the day of the summit. It was rescheduled and held on 25 October 2009. The summit adopted statements on disaster relief and the Nalanda University.
Growth of the Summit
After a period of review, the Summit grew from 16 to 18 nations by adding the United States and Russia to the Summit. Initially represented by their Foreign Ministers at the Fifth EAS, the two new members were invited to formally join with the Sixth EAS. Tensions between the members of the Summit continued to impede the members developing a more ambitious program.
Member nations CountriesCapital CityLeader PositionHead of GovernmentHead of StateCanberraPrime Minister of AustraliaPrime Minister Anthony AlbaneseCharles III, King of AustraliaBandar Seri BegawanSultan of BruneiHassanal Bolkiah, Sultan of BruneiPhnom PenhPrime Minister of CambodiaPrime Minister Hun ManetNorodom Sihamoni, King of CambodiaBeijingPremier of ChinaPremier Li QiangXi Jinping, CCP General Secretary and President of ChinaNew DelhiPrime Minister of IndiaPrime Minister Narendra ModiDroupadi Murmu, President of IndiaJakartaPresident of IndonesiaPrabowo Subianto, President of IndonesiaTokyoPrime Minister of JapanPrime Minister Sanae TakaichiNaruhito, Emperor of JapanVientianePrime Minister of LaosPrime Minister Sonexay SiphandoneThongloun Sisoulith, General Secretary and President of LaosKuala LumpurPrime Minister of MalaysiaPrime Minister Anwar IbrahimIbrahim Iskandar of Johor, Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Monarch)NaypyidawPresident of MyanmarMin Aung Hlaing, President of Myanmar WellingtonPrime Minister of New ZealandPrime Minister Christopher LuxonCharles III, King of New ZealandManilaPresident of the PhilippinesBongbong Marcos, President of the PhilippinesMoscowPrime Minister of RussiaPrime Minister Mikhail MishustinVladimir Putin, President of RussiaSingaporePrime Minister of SingaporePrime Minister Lawrence WongTharman Shanmugaratnam, President of SingaporeSeoulPresident of South KoreaLee Jae Myung, President of South KoreaBangkokPrime Minister of ThailandPrime Minister Anutin CharnvirakulVajiralongkorn (Rama X), King of ThailandWashington, D.C.President of the United StatesDonald Trump, President of the United StatesHanoiPrime Minister of VietnamPrime Minister Lê Minh HưngTô Lâm, General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Vietnam
Current leaders of the East Asia Summit
Energy At the Second EAS the EAS members signed the Cebu Declaration on East Asian Energy Security, a declaration on energy security and biofuels, containing a statement for members to prepare non-binding targets.
Trade and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA) Trade is an important focus for the summit.
As to trade and regional integration the following was noted in the chair's report for the Second EAS:
12. We welcomed ASEAN's efforts towards further integration and community building, and reaffirmed our resolve to work closely together in narrowing development gaps in our region. We reiterated our support for ASEAN's role as the driving force for economic integration in this region. To deepen integration, we agreed to launch a Track To study on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA) among EAS participants. We tasked the ASEAN Secretariat to prepare a time frame for the study and to invite all our countries to nominate their respective participants in it.
We welcomed Japan's proposal for an Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
The reality appears however that movement towards such a relationship is a long way-off. Lee Kuan Yew has compared the relationship between Southeast Asia and India with that of the European Community and Turkey, and has suggested that a free-trade area involving Southeast Asia and India is 30 to 50 years away.
The members of EAS agreed to study the Japanese proposed Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA). The Track Two report on CEPEA is due to be completed in mid-2008 and at the Third EAS it was agreed this would be considered at the Fourth EAS.
As noted above the Second EAS welcomed the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). It was subsequently announced that the ERIA would be established in November 2007The Brunei Times – Link Dead and confirmed at the Third EAS.
The Declaration of the Fifth Anniversary of the East Asia Summit issued at the Fifth EAS provided the Summit declared:Ha Noi Declaration on the commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the EAST ASIA summit
3. To redouble efforts to move progress and cooperation in the EAS further forward, including in the priority areas and in the promotion of regional integration through supporting the realisation of the ASEAN Community and such initiatives as the ASEAN Plus FTAs and other existing wider regional economic integration efforts including studies on East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA).
India has launched several Look-East connectivity projects with China and ASEAN nations.
East Asian Community
After the EAS was established the issue arose of whether any future East Asia Community would arise from the EAS or ASEAN Plus Three. Prior to the creation of the EAS it appeared that ASEAN Plus Three would take the role of community building in East Asia.