Amid layered challenges lingering outside and inside of Southeast Asia, the upcoming ASEAN Summit would seek to improve some of the association’s long-standing mechanism issues as well as finalize several of its short-term goals, including human trafficking and Timor Leste membership, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said.
Ensuring ASEAN’s relevance and centrality amid an ever-dynamic global landscape, shielding the region’s economic stability and establishing a solid vision of ASEAN’s future were all parts of the lengthy to-do list for the summit that would commence in less than 10 days, in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Retno said in a recent interview.
Meanwhile, experts increased their expectations that the week-long meeting leading up to the 42nd ASEAN Summit would show part of Indonesia’s hand, after over four months of taking the “quiet diplomacy” route to tackle some of the region’s most sensitive issues.
Indonesia’s chairmanship, themed ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth, came as the region was faced with tremendous tribulations, both stemming from external geopolitical tensions and internal challenges.
Some of the region’s most pressing issues, such as the South China Sea dispute, geopolitical tensions and the Myanmar crisis have long remained unresolved.
Amid heightened tensions felt across Southeast Asia, recent surveys showed the public’s dwindling confidence in the association, naming “slowness and ineffectiveness” as reasons for their concern.
But Jakarta has been insistent that ensuring ASEAN’s relevance is among their primary priorities, a pledge it has repeated since January.
The 42nd summit, to be attended by only ASEAN members without its external partners, sought to do the bulk of the association’s housekeeping, Retno said.
“ASEAN can only matter if it is strengthened. […] Other than reinforcing our unity and centrality, we must also increase our capacity to face the challenges of tomorrow,” the minister said in a Friday interview. “This includes the ability to respond in a timely manner during an emergency, also strengthening the institution’s resilience and agility.”
An outcome document detailing the matter would be published at the summit, she said, accompanied by another paper on the ASEAN Post-2025 Vision toward ASEAN 2045.
Source : ANN
