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Asean must expand cooperation into digital, green economies amid increasingly troubled global environment: PM Lee

LABUAN BAJO (Indonesia) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) must expand its economic cooperation into new growth areas such as the digital and green economies, as the global environment becomes "increasingly troubled", Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (right) greets Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Asean Summit held in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, on May 10, 2023.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (right) greets Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Asean Summit held in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, on May 10, 2023.

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  • Asean must expand its economic cooperation into new growth areas such as digital and green economies, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said
  • This is especially as the world heads into an "increasingly troubled" environment
  • Mr Lee made the call at the plenary session of the 42nd Asean Summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia
  • In his remarks, he also urged Asean to enhance cooperation on transnational issues and embrace a shared vision for the region

LABUAN BAJO (Indonesia) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) must expand its economic cooperation into new growth areas such as the digital and green economies, as the global environment becomes "increasingly troubled", Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Mr Lee made the call on Wednesday (May 10) at the plenary session of the 42nd Asean Summit held in Labuan Bajo, Flores island, Indonesia. The summit is the first of two hosted by Indonesia as Asean’s chair this year.

Addressing regional leaders at the Meruorah Komodo Labuan Bajo hotel, Mr Lee also suggested two other areas to enable Asean to further pursue regional integration, namely by enhancing cooperation on transnational issues such as "increasingly sophisticated" cross-border threats and embracing a shared vision for the group's future to stay united at the highest level.

REAPING BENEFITS FROM DIGITAL, GREEN ECONOMIES 

In his remarks, Mr Lee said: “The world has come through the Covid-19 pandemic, but the global environment is increasingly troubled." 

Against this backdrop, Asean must continue with its integration efforts, and one way he suggested doing so was by deepening and expanding economic collaboration.

“Economic integration has long been Asean’s priority and must always remain so,” he said.

Asean’s core agreements, such as the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga), need to be upgraded to keep them relevant to evolving business practices, \\he added.

Atiga is a trade agreement signed in 2009 aimed at reducing intra-Asean tariffs.

Mr Lee said that Singapore strongly supports Indonesia’s efforts to develop the Asean Digital Economy Framework Agreement (Defa).

Singapore also welcomes the proposed Leaders’ Statement to develop the Asean Defa targeted to be issued later this year.

“We can reap tremendous economic gains by improving the digital connectivity and literacy of our peoples.”

On green economies, Mr Lee lauded the success of the Lao PDR-Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore Power Integration Project in showcasing the feasibility of multilateral power trading in the region.

The project allows Singapore to import hydropower from Laos through Thailand and Malaysia, and is the first renewable energy import for the nation.

From its launch late last June until end-October last year, more than 170,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity had been imported to Singapore from Laos, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.

“We should build on this and work towards an Asean Power Grid, which will strengthen member states’ energy security and resilience, and advance regional decarbonisation,” Mr Lee said.

On Asean's cooperation with external partners, Mr Lee cited examples of recently concluded negotiations to enhance trading agreements with Australia, China and New Zealand.

He said that these upgrades also include new areas such as digital and green economies as well as supply chain connectivity.

TACKLING TRANSNATIONAL THREATS, EMBRACING SHARED VISION

Beyond the economy, Mr Lee called upon Asean to enhance cooperation on transnational issues.

“This includes protecting our people from increasingly sophisticated cross-border threats,” he said, adding that Singapore supports Indonesia’s initiative for a declaration on combating trafficking of people due to the abuse of technology.

The authorities in the Philippines recently rescued more than 1,000 trafficking victims from 10 countries, including 143 Indonesians, the Associated Press reported recently.

Ahead of the Asean Summit, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo had told reporters that human trafficking, especially in cases involving online scams, was particularly concerning because it victimises citizens of Indonesia and of Asean countries as a whole.

Mr Widodo said to a group of reporters in Labuan Bajo on Monday: “I reiterate that the harm of human trafficking must be swiftly eradicated, from end to end.” 

On Wednesday, Mr Lee said that cybersecurity cooperation should also be stepped up.

He noted that Asean has made "good progress" on the Asean Regional Computer Emergency Response Team proposal, referring to the plan of establishing a team to foster better cooperation across countries to beef up defence against cyberattacks, by this year or 2024. 

Enabling such cooperation in the region requires strong political support, Mr Lee added.

This means that Asean “must stay cohesive and united at the highest levels, including by embracing a shared vision for Asean’s future,” he said, especially given the troubled global outlook.

Additionally, Singapore welcomes the two Leaders’ Statements set to be adopted at the summit that affirm a shared commitment to the proposed core elements of Asean's post-2025 vision submitted last year.

Among other things, the proposals call on Asean to remain open, inclusive and rules-based, and to pursue new areas of cooperation.

Apart from leaders of the 10 Asean member states, Timor Leste’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak is also attending this year’s summit as an observer.

Asean had agreed in principle in 2022 to admit Timor Leste as its next member.

“Today we are taking a significant step, to adopt the roadmap for Timor-Leste’s Asean membership,” Mr Lee said.

“The roadmap sets out the obligations and commitments of membership, which Timor-Leste needs to fulfil. It is robust and comprehensive. It has been extensively discussed and carefully designed, and has our full support.”

Mr Lee and Mr Ruak last met during the latter's visit to Singapore in February.

They met again on the sidelines of the summit on Wednesday, where they affirmed the longstanding and positive relations between Singapore and Timor-Leste, Singapore's Prime Minister's Office said.

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