Southeast Asian Leaders to Issue Contingency Plan on International Law and Energy Security

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.

The region is heavily dependent on oil and gas imports from the Middle East.

” Those measures will “preserve the unimpeded flow of essential goods, including food, energy and key inputs, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the draft adds. The leaders will also affirm a “shared resolve” to strengthen regional resilience.

The contingency plan calls for several concrete steps.

These include possible ratification this year of an agreement for coordinated emergency fuel sharing, planning a regional power grid, diversifying sources of crude oil, promoting electric vehicles and studying civilian nuclear energy. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

East Timor became a full member in October last year. The region faces its own challenges, including territorial disputes involving China, a civil war in Myanmar and a recent border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. The draft declaration was seen by The Associated Press on Thursday.