ASEAN states urged to be 'more solid, agile' as summit plenary session opens

JAKARTA, Indonesia — ASEAN Summit chairman and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday called on member-states of the regional bloc to work harder and become more solid and agile as he opened the 43rd summit’s plenary session.

“We are all aware of the magnitude of current global challenges and the main key to address them is ASEAN’s unity and centrality. ASEAN’s objective is clear to become an epicentrum of growth. ASEAN has tremendous assets to achieve this objective but ASEAN must be able to work harder, become more solid, bolder and more agile,” Jokowi said in his speech at the opening of the plenary session.

The Indonesian leader highlighted the need for ASEAN to craft a long-term technical plan “that is relevant and in line with the hopes of the people not only for the next five years, but for the next 20 years until 2045.”  He thanked the ASEAN member-states for their support in the discussion of the ASEAN Concord IV.

According to the ASEAN secretariat’s press release, the ASEAN Concord IV, which was initiated by the host country Indonesia, “will serve as a foundation for the formulation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 to strengthen ASEAN to allow it to address future challenges.”

The foreign ministers of ASEAN countries have agreed to recommend the adoption of the ASEAN Concord IV at the 43rd ASEAN Summit meeting.

At the same time, Jokowi reported ASEAN’s enhanced cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Pacific Island Forum (PIF).

“ASEAN, as a part of the Indo-Pacific Region, is also consistently working both through an inclusive approach, through cooperation between the ASEAN secretariat with the PIF, and the Indian Ocean Rim Association secretariats (IORA), as well as to the economic and development approach through the ASEAN Indo-Pacific forum to enable ASEAN to bring beneficial impacts for its people and also for the world,” he said.

On Monday, the ASEAN, through Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and the secretariats of the PICF and IORA, signed a memorandum of understanding at the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta.

In ending his speech, Jokowi reminded his fellow ASEAN state leaders about their responsibility in achieving peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

“ASEAN, as a large ship, also has a major responsibility towards the hundreds of millions of people who are sailing together on it and despite having to sail through a storm, we, as ASEAN leaders, must ensure that this ship can continue to sail and that we have to be captains of our own ship to achieve peace, to achieve stability, to achieve prosperity together and with this, I declare the 43rd ASEAN plenary session open,” he said.

The plenary session came shortly after the opening ceremony of the 43rd ASEAN Summit.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. attended the opening ceremony along with Jokowi, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet, Lao PDR Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Mark Brown, Prime Minister of Cook Islands, Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmaño.

Thailand was represented by its permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan.

Marcos was accompanied by his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.

Marcos will be in Indonesia until Thursday to attend the ASEAN main events as well as other related summits. He arrived in Jakarta on Monday evening.

The 43rd ASEAN Summit will conclude on September 7 with a handover ceremony of the ASEAN chairmanship from Indonesia to Laos.

Before he left the Philippines, Marcos said he would continue to promote Philippine interests during the summit and other related summits. —KBK, GMA Integrated News