Rev Dr. James Ngun Hlei, the Associate General Secretary of Myanmar Council of Churches attended the ASEM Interfaith/Intercultural Retreat for Religious Leaders during 9-12 September 2009 at the Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Rev. James was delegated to the Retreat by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of the Union of Myanmar. The retreat was chaired by Indonesia and was attended by religious leaders/figures/officials from 24 ASEM Partners, including Austria, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Denmark, European Commission, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, and Vietnam. The retreat was also attended by a representative from Syria, as a special guest of the Minister of Religious Affairs of Indonesia. The retreat was co-sponsored by Italy, Singapore, United Kingdom, the Philippines and Thailand.

There is a summary of the retreat having 4 pages(A4) with a 19 paragraphs. Myanmar Council of Churches appreciated that Rev. Dr. James Ngun Hlei was chosen to represent the country at the Interfaith/Intercultural Retreat for Religious Leaders.