Asean’s Manila moment
The Philippines will host the 49th meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit this week and will face many challenges in the global environment today. It will be a big challenge for Asean today as the environment is moving from a confrontational to an integrated environment for growth and development. The three major priorities of the Philippines for the summit are peace and security, economic integration and growth, and the empowerment and welfare of the Asean peoples.
Discussions at the summit are also expected to center on the South China Sea issues, including the various maritime confrontations as well as militarization in the area by China. Asean and China will also be discussing the effective and substantial implementation of a Code of Conduct, which both sides are targeting for completion by the end of 2026.
Such an agreement is critical in managing and reducing tensions in the area as well as in establishing clear rules of conduct to encourage peaceful resolution of disputes while ensuring that freedom of navigation and overflight and other high seas rights and freedoms are observed in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
As Asean faces numerous crises, including the ongoing Myanmar crisis where the Myanmar military has seized power and cracked down on peaceful protesters since Feb. 1 last year, the Philippine chairmanship is put to the test in terms of ensuring that Asean remains relevant and continues to pursue the goal of bringing peace and prosperity to Southeast.
Competition in trade and investment also requires that Asean fuels growth through deeper economic integration. By streamlining the trade and investment policies and regulations of member states, facilitating doing of business in every country in Asean and leveraging emerging and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, Asean can strengthen the resilience of its supply chains and attract quality investments, enable e-commerce and support the development of sustainable transportation systems to help small and medium enterprises of every member state to design, make and export products and services of quality that can compete in the global market.
Climate change continues to threaten food security and public health across the region. Thus, it is imperative that the Asean summit strengthens cooperation on renewable energy, green infrastructure, disaster preparedness and management, as well as environmental protection. In this regard, the development of the Asean Power Grid shall not only promote regional energy security but also enable the region to better prepare and respond to natural disasters.
Between two superpowers competing for regional influence, Asean can maximize opportunities for growth and also, at the same time, learn how to prevent either power from using measures that can undermine the unity and interests of the regional grouping. By preserving and enhancing its constructive relations with major powers outside the region, Asean must not become too dependent on either. As the central driver of regional architecture, it is important for Asean to translate its centrality into greater influence in inclusive platforms and mechanisms such as the East Asia Summit. And this will require greater political will and solidarity among its member states.
This partnership should not, however, detract from the Philippines’ active support for strengthening Asean and making solidarity with other countries and organizations in the region more effective. A strong Asean is important to enable the Philippines to safeguard its maritime interests and uphold its international law obligations while maintaining good and constructive relations with other countries in the region, including China.
Turning Asean’s commitments into action is very important. Clearly defining responsibilities and setting quantifiable goals, and monitoring and evaluating them against said targets, can bring about the necessary change to enable Asean to face future challenges. Strengthening maritime security, conducting joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts, and having robust disaster risk reduction systems are also important for the regional organization. As Asean turns 60 next year, it is necessary to preserve its ability to perform as a single, cohesive unit while adapting to the current changing global landscape.
The greatest challenge as Asean summit host would be to transform all these summit commitments into concrete actions that would transcend mere diplomatic engagements and century-old practices of Asean’s way of working and decision making. “Navigating Our Future, Together” must become more than a summit theme; it must become a commitment that all 11 member countries of Asean live by.
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Simon Hutagalung is a retired Indonesian foreign ministry official. The opinions expressed in this article are his own.
