Cebu: Associate Professor Dr. Piti Srisangnam, a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, revealed on the Good Morning ASEAN program on MCOT News FM 100.5 that the 48th ASEAN Summit, originally scheduled for May 6-8 in Cebu and Lapu-Lapu, Philippines, was shortened to reallocate the budget to address the impact of the conflict in the Middle East following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Despite the shorter duration, the key issues remain intense.
According to Thai News Agency, the meeting was attended by the leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries. Myanmar's political leaders were not invited; only non-political representatives were present. The theme of the meeting was 'Navigating Our Futures Together.' Amid security tensions, the Philippines has deployed over 7,300 personnel after allowing the US military access to an additional nine bases.
The key highlights include five documents, most notably the protocol amending the ASEAN Charter, preparing for Timor-Leste's arrival as the 11th member, and the redesign of the ASEAN logo to feature 11 stalks of rice. Simultaneously, efforts are being made to promote maritime cooperation encompassing security, the blue economy, and addressing the problem of plastic waste in the ocean, a topic in which the Philippines remains the world's largest contributor of marine plastic waste.
Another important issue is issuing a statement to address the impacts of the situation in the Middle East, focusing on food and energy security, along with a strategic framework for emergency response and empowering youth to cope with climate change.
For Thailand, a significant move is underway to cancel the 2001 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and instead utilize the international law of the sea, UNCLOS 1982, in negotiations over overlapping maritime areas with Cambodia. This comes after 25 years of stalled negotiations and Cambodia's recent accession to UNCLOS, which will provide a clearer and more unified legal framework for future negotiations.
Furthermore, this ASEAN meeting will also require close monitoring of the leaders' stance on the Middle East crisis, as well as the problem of arms trafficking in the region, which could affect the stability and security of ASEAN in the long term.