JAKARTA, Sept 8 (NNN-ANTARA) – The 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, concluded here yesterday, with a series of outcomes despite rising uncertainties globally.
“The Indonesian chairmanship has achieved a lot, in terms of efforts in maintaining stability and prosperity in the region,” Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, told a press conference after the summit.
This world needs a safe house, and ASEAN is on track to be able to perform those roles, Widodo said.
This year’s summit, under Indonesia’s chairmanship is themed “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth.”
Numerous documents have been adopted at the summit, including the East Asia Summit (EAS) leaders’ statement, on epicentrum of growth and an agreement on the development of electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, the president said.
Participating countries of the EAS reaffirmed their commitment, to maintain and promote the region as an epicentrum of growth by building resilience against emerging challenges and future shocks, through cooperation, according to the statement.
During the summit, ASEAN members reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen ASEAN as an organisation that is robust, agile, and equipped with strengthened capacity and institutional effectiveness.
“We must, hand in hand, navigate the challenges to be opportunities, navigate the rivalries to be collaborations, navigate exclusivity to be inclusivity, and navigate differences to be unity,” Widodo said, while addressing the closing ceremony of the summit.
“ASEAN’s big duties will not finish in only one chairmanship. We will continue to face the complexity of global challenges,” the president said.
Indonesia handed over the ASEAN chairmanship for 2024 to Laos, at the closing ceremony.– NNN-ANTARA
