Dato Lim Jock Hoi from Brunei Darussalam is the new secretary-general (SG) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), succeeding outgoing Le Luong Minh who completed his term of office on December 31, 2017.
The ASEAN Secretariat officiated the transfer of office at a handover ceremony held January 5 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dato Lim Jock Hoi is the 14th secretary general of ASEAN and will serve from 2018-2022.
Dato Lim Jock Hoi stated that “ASEAN’s progress over the years has been outstanding.” With the new and emerging challenges, he observed that “the immediate tasks for ASEAN would be to prepare the people of ASEAN for the new technological age, and to ensure the region advances towards inclusive growth and sustainable development.”
He added that it is also important for the ASEAN Secretariat “to be more proactive and savvy in order to serve ASEAN member states” and improve its capability to prepare member states on issues that will affect ASEAN the most. He also thanked Minh for his valuable contribution as secretary-general of ASEAN from 2013 to 2017.
Before his latest appointment, Dato Lim Jock Hoi was a permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei Darussalam.
He graduated from the City of London Polytechnic with a B.Sc (Hons.) in Economics in 1976 and received his Post Graduate Teacher Certificate in 1977.
He was awarded The Most Honourable Order of Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei, second Class (D.P.M.B) in 2007. He is married with two sons.
The secretary-general of ASEAN is appointed by the association’s leaders for a non-renewable term of five years, selected from nationals of the ASEAN member states based on alphabetical rotation.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi remarked during the event that “the global role of ASEAN must be strengthened.” She said such role “requires the unity of ASEAN; with its unity, the centrality of ASEAN can be maintained.”
On the same day, Marsudi, Lim Jock Hoi, and other participants of the ceremony attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new ASEAN Secretariat building being constructed by the government of Indonesia.
Photo courtesy of ASEAN
