KUALA LUMPUR: An uncertain and turbulent world is “a moment of truth” for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to deepen the grouping’s integration or risk losing its relevance, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday (May 27).
At the latest summit for ASEAN leaders, which was taking place amid a world upended by United States President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, there were “candid discussions” on the new realities of the world and a “renewed sense of urgency” for closer integration, he said.
These include aiming for the 10-member bloc to be completely tariff-free and with lower non-tariff barriers, pushing for more seamless trade in both goods and services, and forging cooperation in new growth areas such as the digital economy.
“There are many things that ASEAN can do to accelerate our integration and this task is more urgent than before, particularly in this new global environment,” Mr Wong told the Singapore media at the end of the two-day summit in Kuala Lumpur.
“In many ways, this is a moment of truth for ASEAN. We have to either step up and carve out a clear, purposeful role for ourselves in this changed world, or ASEAN will lose its relevance.”
He added: “So, there is a full agenda ahead for ASEAN, and we had very good discussions in this meeting to make sure that we make good progress.”
At the summit, ASEAN leaders have reiterated the call for the regional grouping to stay united but flexible as it tackles the pressing challenges caused by the US tariffs.
Mr Wong himself had said that ASEAN should respond to the new global environment by continuing to “constructively engage the US, individually as countries but more importantly, collectively as ASEAN”.
Responding to a question, he said this is not a contradictory approach given the region’s diversity, with individual ASEAN members at various levels of economic development and having different trade balances with America.
This is why ASEAN member states will want the flexibility to engage America individually. Likewise for the same reason, the US may also prefer to engage countries individually.
There is also a benefit to engage the US as a group, Mr Wong said, adding that the approaches are hence “complementary”, rather than being mutually exclusive.
“Whether engaging as individual member states or engaging as ASEAN, our objective is to reduce (trade and investment) barriers with America,” he said.
“So, we will continue to work on both fronts.”
