By: Tyas Permata Wiyana )*
Indonesia becomes Chair of ASEAN in 2023. After becoming chairman, the 2023 ASEAN Summit will be held in this country, to be precise in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) in May 2023. The community fully supports the ASEAN Summit because it benefits them, especially from an economic and tourism perspective.
The 2023 ASEAN Summit to be held is very important because it will open up various opportunities and add new cooperation between countries in Southeast Asia. It is planned that there will also be cooperation regarding the electric car industry which is the vehicle of the future.
The ASEAN Summit is also very beneficial because it will open up opportunities to add new cooperation. Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi stated that a total of eight meetings with plenary and retreat formats would be held at Puncak Waringin, Labuan Bajo.
Minister Retno added, on the sidelines of the main agenda of the 2023 ASEAN Summit, regional economic cooperation would also be discussed such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP- EAGA). The subject of sustainable development is one that is highlighted in Labuan Bajo.
In a sense, the ASEAN Summit will increase opportunities for cooperation with various countries in Southeast Asia. Cooperation will make ASEAN more advanced because there is collaboration from many parties. As a result, it is not only the people of Indonesia who benefit, but also citizens in Southeast Asia.
As the host of the 2023 ASEAN Summit, Indonesia is pushing for the strengthening of the health architecture in the Southeast Asia and Indo-Pacific region through the One Health approach. This approach to the health sector prioritizes cross-sectoral performance in terms of solving health problems such as handling outbreaks and pandemics.
One Health is an implied unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the close relationships and interdependencies among humans animals and ecosystems, recognizing the health of domestic and wild animals, plants and the wider environment.
The Special Staff of the Coordinating Minister for PMK for International Cooperation, Joko Kusnanto Anggoro said, there were several documents that would be raised at the 42nd ASEAN Summit. Namely documents in the fields of health, employment, and rural development which will be discussed at the Ministerial Meeting on the Socio-Cultural Pillars in Bali on May 8, 2023.
The four documents are the ASEAN Leaders Declaration on One Health Initiative, the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Family Members in Crisis Situations. Then the ASEAN Declaration on the Placement and Protection of Migrant Fishers, and the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Village Network.
The four documents are aimed at strengthening the health architecture in the region through mainstreaming the One-Health approach and enhancing the protection of the rights of migrant workers in crisis situations and migrant workers working in the fishing sector.
Kusnanto added that the existing documents will also encourage the acceleration of rural development through the formation of village networks to share knowledge and opportunities for cooperation in ASEAN.
With cooperation at the 2023 ASEAN Summit, the public is optimistic that Indonesia and all ASEAN members will be more advanced. Cooperation will be mutually beneficial, especially in the economic field.
Meanwhile, the 2023 ASEAN Summit will also open opportunities for the electric vehicle industry. Chair of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) and also Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arsjad Rasjid, said the 2023 ASEAN Summit has the potential to add new cooperation and implementation of environmentally friendly electric vehicles in ASEAN.
Through the 2023 ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, there are several things that will later be agreed upon, one of which is regarding the industrial ecosystem and trade of electric vehicles (EV) in ASEAN.
According to Arsjad, the agreement is projected to contribute to decarbonization efforts in ASEAN, where currently the region contributes 8% of world carbon emissions. The electric vehicle ecosystem agreement in ASEAN will greatly encourage ASEAN economic growth and also encourage net zero commitments that can attract investment in the downstream EV industry ecosystem.
The ASEAN Summit is a momentum to develop electric cars in Indonesia. President Jokowi is pushing for the holding of the Summit by using electric cars that are more environmentally friendly. President Jokowi’s message that he wanted to use electric vehicles for operations during the Summit proved that the Indonesian automotive industry was advanced and ready to become the basis for the development of electric cars.
It is predicted that the electric car industry will develop in Indonesia. Moreover, in this country there are nickel mines whose results can be processed into electric car batteries. The availability of natural resources can support the electric car industry in Indonesia.
The government is promoting the use of electric cars because they are more environmentally friendly. First, electric cars do not use fuel oil. BBM is indeed easy to find everywhere but the weakness, it comes from processing fossils. Even though the supply of fossils in Indonesia is limited and is predicted to run out in 10-20 years. Therefore, the community is expected to be prepared to switch from fuel to electricity.
The 2023 ASEAN Summit will open up many new cooperation opportunities for its member countries. Indonesia will make good use of the ASEAN Chair position, and invite many countries in Southeast Asia to cooperate. With this cooperation, it is hoped that a lot of investment will come in and there will be an increase in the economy and welfare of the Indonesian people.
)* The author is a contributor to Persada Institute
