Asean’s opportunity amid crises

THERE are opportunities for Asean amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the US-China trade war, which have caused supply chain shifts. However, Asean needs to get its act together by stepping up on the economic integration that is central to its rationale as a regional organisation.

In order to emerge as a growing market of end demand and a resilient base of production, it must position itself firmly in the larger Asian supply chain, offering itself as an Asian production region that is open to the rest of the world. This role held true, even before the emergence of the Sino-US trade conflict, but those differences have accelerated the need for sufficient regional ballast and momentum to enable Asean to seize a crucial moment in global economic transformation.