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Southeast Asian Leaders to Issue Contingency Plan on International Law and Energy Security
ASEAN leaders will adopt a declaration at their summit in the Philippines that reaffirms international law, sovereignty and freedom of navigation. The document also contains a regional contingency plan to address energy shortages and economic fallout from the Middle East conflict. The summit host has scaled back ceremonial elements in recognition of global economic pressures.
May 6, 10:57 PM·2m read2 sources
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Southeast Asian leaders will adopt a declaration this week that reaffirms commitment to international law, sovereignty and freedom of navigation. The text also includes a contingency plan to address energy shortages and other global problems stemming from the Middle East conflict, according to a draft seen by The Associated Press.
The declaration is scheduled to be issued at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday in the central Philippine island province of Cebu. The gathering will include leaders from the 10 ASEAN member states along with 10 other national leaders and a lower-level representative from Myanmar.
The summit host has ordered the event stripped of its traditional ceremonial elements in recognition of worldwide economic headwinds. The focus will be on the region’s energy security, food supply and the protection of more than a million Southeast Asian workers and seafarers currently in the Middle East.
Asia, a region of about 680 million people, has expressed serious concern over the Middle East war that has caused global economic fallout and endangered citizens of ASEAN nations. Several workers from the region, including two from the Philippines, have been killed in the fighting.
Thousands more have returned home or been evacuated by their governments. The Asian Development Bank warned in March, about a month after the hostilities began, that prolonged disruptions could slow growth and increase inflation across Asia and the Pacific.
