The ASEAN Heads of Government Citation will be conferred on the five signatories of the Bangkok Declaration of 1967 during the ASEAN Anniversary Commemorative Summit in Kuala Lumpur which will be held on 14 - 16 December 1997.

The ASEAN Citation is the highest form of recognition conferred by ASEAN and will be given to a limited number of outstanding individuals every decade. Awarded for the first time this year, the ASEAN Citation is conferred to the five signatories of the Bangkok Declaration of 1967, for their distinguished role in the founding of ASEAN.

The Conferment Ceremony will take place at a gala dinner on 15 December 1997, hosted by The Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia, and attended by the other ASEAN Heads of Government; Heads of Government of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea; and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The two surviving signatories of the Bangkok Declaration are Thanat Khoman and S. Rajaratnam. Thanat Khoman will be present at the Conferment Ceremony while Professor S. Jayakumar, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore will represent S. Rajaratnam. The late Adam Malik and the late Tun Haji Abdul Razak will be represented by Mrs. Nelly Adam Malik and Tun Hajjah Rahah binti Tan Sri Mohd Noah respectively, while Senator Leticia Ramos Shahani will receive the Citation on behalf of her late father Mr. Narciso Ramos.

Each recipient will be presented with a gold medallion and a scroll bearing the citation signed by all the nine ASEAN Heads of Government.