Marcos calls for enhancement of ASEAN centrality to address regional challenges

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Friday called for the enhancement of ASEAN solidarity and centrality to address conflicts and challenges in the region.

Marcos made the call during his intervention at the 40th ASEAN Summit Plenary in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He said regional unity is important in order to be responsive to the present challenges and to implement mechanisms for community-building efforts.

“It is imperative that we reassert ASEAN Centrality. This in the face of geopolitical dynamics and tensions in the region and the proliferation of Indo-Pacific engagements, including the requests of our dialogue partners for closer partnerships,” Marcos said.

“ASEAN’s response to this is the forward-looking ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific, with its essential element of ASEAN centrality in the implementation of ASEAN-led mechanisms, projects, and initiatives for our community building efforts,” Marcos added.

Improving the ASEAN solidarity could address challenges including natural disasters, health emergencies, armed conflicts, and economic recessions, according to Marcos.

Further, Marcos urged Myanmar “to abide by and implement the five-point consensus” regarding the peace situation there. The five-point plan has called for an immediate end to violence and dialogue between the military and the anti-coup movement in Myanmar.

Marcos also called for the reinvigoration of the region’s economies through tourism recovery, energy cooperation, as well as trade and investment revitalization.

“We should enhance ASEAN food security cooperation through strengthened initiatives and expanded projects under the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry and other related mechanisms, including those with our dialogue partners,” Marcos said.

“We need to solidify our food resilience and promote food self-sufficiency, through the use of new agricultural technologies, in order to protect the region and our countries from shocks to the global food value chain, as well as against adverse effects of climate change,” he added. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News