Dear Colleagues

This year, the ASEAN Society of Pediatric Surgery marks 20 years of collaboration among pediatric surgeons in Southeast Asia. In the last 2 decades, the Society has been the rallying point for professionals in our region who care for children and adolescents with surgical conditions, and has fostered growing cooperation and deep ties.

We are grateful to the many institutions and national societies that have generously hosted the last 16 congresses on a near-annual basis since the Society’s founding. We also appreciate the many collaborators that have come alongside the Society over the years. On behalf of the Society, I specially wish to thank the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons for their unwavering support, particularly with the neonatal workshop that has been a perennial favorite among the trainees. During this year of commemoration, we also want to remember and honor the pioneering surgeons who came together from our various countries many years ago and initiated this regional collaboration, which has endured till today.

The spirit of collaboration extends further in this year’s Congress with the incorporation of surgical nursing colleagues and new thematic focuses outside our typical surgical domains into burgeoning new frontiers. Our deep appreciation goes to this year’s organizing committee for its hard work and creativity in putting this event together. I hope that all participants will enjoy the exciting program content and the warm exchanges that have been so characteristic of these meetings. May we continue to explore, enquire and enjoy together as a Society for more decades to come.