Global Courant 2023-05-10 09:00:00
LABUAN BAJO – The ASEAN countries worked well together during the Covid-19 pandemic and the grouping must remain cohesive and united at the highest level given the troubled global outlook, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Lee addressed other Southeast Asian leaders on the first day of the 42nd ASEAN Summit, calling on them to continue to provide opportunities for the people of the region to thrive and engage external partners.
Leaders of the regional group are in Labuan Bajo, a town on the western tip of the Indonesian island of Flores, for the two-day summit chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Prime Minister Lee said: “The world has weathered the Covid-19 pandemic, but the global environment is facing more and more problems. Against this backdrop, ASEAN must continue our regional integration efforts.”
One way the bloc can do this is by deepening economic cooperation and expanding into new growth areas, such as the digital and green economies.
Prime Minister Lee stressed that economic integration must always remain ASEAN’s priority.
To highlight how effective regional integration supports ASEAN centrality, he said the group needs to upgrade its core agreements, such as the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement, to keep them relevant to changing business practices.
Prime Minister Lee also said Singapore strongly supports Indonesia’s efforts to develop the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement, and welcomes the proposed leader’s statement to develop the agreement, which will be published later this year.
“We can reap huge economic benefits by improving the digital connectivity and literacy of our peoples,” he said.
On the green economy, he said Singapore supports the strengthening of energy interconnectivity under the Indonesian presidency of ASEAN. PM Lee supported the success of the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project, saying it demonstrates that multilateral energy trade in the region is feasible.
The intergovernmental project was launched in 2014 to explore the feasibility of cross-border power trading, and Singapore began importing renewable energy from Laos via Thailand and Malaysia in 2022.
“We need to build on this and work towards an Asean Power Grid, which will strengthen Member States’ energy security and resilience and promote regional decarbonisation,” said Prime Minister Lee.
Regarding ASEAN’s external partners, Prime Minister Lee noted that negotiations on the 2nd Protocol Amending the Agreement Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) have recently been concluded, and that negotiations on a second upgrade of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) have begun.
“Both upgrades encompass new areas such as the digital economy, green economy and supply chain connectivity,” he said.
