ASEAN summit stresses diversifying supplies amid Middle East crisis fallout

Detailed summary

MANILA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday stressed the importance of strengthening energy and food security, diversifying supply ...

MANILA: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday stressed the importance of strengthening energy and food security, diversifying supply sources, bolstering supply chains and speeding up power grid connections among its members to counter economic disruption from international crises, particularly the fallout from the Middle East crisis.

The remarks came at the opening of the bloc’s 49th summit and related meetings, hosted by the Philippines in the capital Manila with leaders and officials from member states and partners.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in his opening speech that developments in the Middle East had threatened Southeast Asia’s stability and disrupted transport and energy and food supplies, coinciding with the ASEAN summit held in the Philippine city of Cebu earlier this year.

Member states had agreed then to work together on a decisive regional response, and the bloc had reorganized the summit to focus on core issues while continuing to carry out its agenda, he said.

Marcos called for solidarity in the face of rising geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, climate change and cross-border threats, as well as technological change. “No member state alone has all the resources and capabilities needed to face these challenges and seize the opportunities available,” he said.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called for diversifying sources of food and medicine and strengthening ASEAN’s production capacity to reduce dependence on outside suppliers, urging more trade among members in fertilizers, seeds and animal feed.

He urged faster implementation of the ASEAN Power Grid, saying national grids could no longer operate in isolation, with regional energy demand expected to quadruple by 2060.

Anwar welcomed ASEAN’s Digital Economy Framework Agreement, stressing that rules governing artificial intelligence (AI) “should not be subject to the commercial interests of a limited number of global technology companies”.

The…

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