(L-R) Myanmar’s Everlasting Secretary of Overseas Affairs Aung Kyaw Moe, Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Laos’ Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Mamet, Indonesia’s Vice Prime Minister Ma’ruf Amin and East Timor’s Prime Minister Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao pose on stage in the course of the forty fourth Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane on October 9, 2024. Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday urged his fellow Southeast Asian leaders to enhance the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations’ (Asean) relations with exterior companions and uphold rules-based worldwide order.
In his speech in the course of the forty fourth Asean Summit in Laos, Marcos confused the significance of boosting connectivity and resilience within the area to make sure its preparedness for rising challenges and for future shocks.
“As we chart the trail ahead for our area, allow us to harness to the fullest the energy of our exterior relationships, which play a pivotal function in enriching Asean Group-building,” Marcos mentioned.
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“We’ll constantly strengthen our engagement with our exterior companions to bolster Asean Centrality, promote mutual belief, and to uphold a rules-based worldwide order that safeguards peace, stability, safety, and prosperity for all,” he added.
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Marcos additionally cited the necessity for Asean members to work collectively in selling digital economic system, meals safety, tourism, ladies empowerment and gender equality.
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He mentioned the regional bloc ought to lay the groundwork for a “protected and trusted” digital setting, stressing that digital economic system is without doubt one of the vital catalysts for connectivity in Asean.
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He mentioned digitalization can usher in a brand new period of innovation, development, and alternative.
“With the Asean Digital Economic system Framework Settlement (DEFA) poised to spice up our area’s digital economic system to USD2 trillion by 2030, it’s vital that we spend money on strong cybersecurity protections, equip our individuals with digital expertise, and construct the digital infrastructure essential to safe ASEAN’s path to changing into the fourth largest economic system on the planet,” Marcos mentioned.
Marcos additionally confused the necessity to deal with financing gaps, assist digitalization, and improve the capacities of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to combine them into international worth chains and develop into key drivers of regional development.
This, as he acknowledged that there are over 70 million MSMEs throughout Asean, accounting for as much as 99 p.c of all companies within the area.
Marcos additionally referred to as on Asean member-states to undertake sustainable agricultural practices to optimize the area’s meals methods, amid the persistent challenges to meals safety brought on by provide chain disruptions, financial shocks, and the growing depth of utmost climate occasions.
He mentioned Southeast Asian leaders should again initiatives that empower and assist farming communities and leverage agricultural technological improvements.
He additionally urged the regional bloc to work collectively to mitigate the results of local weather change, which he thought-about because the “largest menace to humanity and the way forward for Asean.”
“Our area stays probably the most weak to local weather change, and our resilience will proceed to be examined by this perennial problem,” Marcos mentioned.
“Asean should likewise concentrate on the intersection of local weather change and biodiversity. Defending our wealthy biodiversity is crucial to sustaining the ecosystems that assist all of our life. To this finish, the Philippines has elevated its funding of the Asean Heart for Biodiversity by 25 p.c this 12 months, with the intention to assist efforts on the conservation and administration of the area’s organic variety,” he added.
Marcos additionally emphasised the Philippines’ internet hosting of the Loss and Harm Fund and the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Convention on Catastrophe Danger Discount, saying the nation would focus extra on the Asia-Pacific area the place many international locations battle with restricted assets in responding to the results of local weather change.
Marcos mentioned the Philippines can also be advancing the Asean regional tourism motion plans to advertise the area’s wealthy tradition and heritage, in addition to inclusive and sustainable tourism throughout the area.
He additionally shared the Philippine authorities’s efforts in selling ladies empowerment and gender equality, as he acknowledged ladies’s vital function in Asean community-building, particularly in peacebuilding initiatives.
“Girls’s distinctive views and experiences are vital to constructing a simply and lasting peace,” Marcos mentioned.
“The Philippines is internet hosting an Worldwide Convention on Girls, Peace, and Safety in Manila this October. In keeping with United Nations Safety Council Decision 1325, the Philippines seeks to advance efforts that might make sure that ladies are on the forefront of peacekeeping, battle decision, and peacebuilding.”