Successfully Holding the 43rd ASEAN Summit, Indonesia Proves Its Strategic Role in the Southeast Asia Region
Jakarta – Indonesia has successfully held the Chair of ASEAN in 2023, where the 43rd ASEAN Summit has been held. As the host, Indonesia has once proved that it has an important role and potential in realizing the goals of establishing ASEAN, namely creating a peaceful, secure, stable and prosperous Southeast Asia region. The issue of peace is one of the main focuses conveyed by President Jokowi.
“I make sure that this world will be destroyed if conflicts and tensions in one place are brought in and made a tug of war in another place. “If we are unable to manage our differences, we will be destroyed, if we are carried away by the flow of rivalry, we will be destroyed,” said President Jokowi on Thursday (7/9) in the Cendrawasih Room, Jakarta Convention Center.
In a global conflict full of rivalries, the world needs a balance to neutralize it. ASEAN is on the right track to be able to emphasize its role as a contributor to stability and peace as well as the epicenter of growth for the Southeast Asian region.
As for the results of the negotiations at the 43rd ASEAN Summit, Indonesia and ASEAN countries succeeded in formulating a number of strategic agreements.
“After going through a long and difficult process, we succeeded in agreeing on the East Leader Joint Statement regarding the Epicentrum of Growth, once again this was not an easy process, the geopolitical tug-of-war was very strong, but thank God a consensus was reached,” stressed President Jokowi.
At the Press Conference, President Jokowi was also accompanied by Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi who said that the East Leader Joint Statement had benefits for millions of people in Southeast Asia and the surrounding region.
“At the 43rd ASEAN Summit, we were only able to complete all negotiations at the last moment. “Once again in the midst of sharp differences, ASEAN still has hope and there is still optimism to work together,” said Foreign Minister Retno.
Apart from Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto who accompanied President Jokowi also emphasized that ASEAN this time was able to realize cooperation on energy security and renewable energy which was one of the points in the leaders’ declaration.
“One of the mainstays of the Epicentrum of Growth is the digital economy framework agreement, which includes a very in-depth agreement on digitalization including digital talent, digital id, retraining. If without this, the economy in ASEAN is estimated to be 1 trillion in 2030, it could increase to 2 trillion,” said the Coordinating Minister for Airlangga.
Indonesia has proven itself capable of leading ASEAN countries in responding to global challenges, producing breakthroughs in cooperation for the world community. The success of the 2023 ASEAN Summit shows that Indonesia is able to navigate foreign diplomacy which is not only beneficial for global interests but also benefits Indonesia’s own domestic interests.
For this reason, Indonesia has successfully directed ASEAN cooperation in 2023 to continue and strengthen ASEAN’s relevance in responding to regional and global challenges, as well as strengthening ASEAN’s position as the center of regional economic growth, for the prosperity of the people in Southeast Asia.
