Indonesia has a very strong commitment to lead ASEAN countries in the 2023 ASEAN Summit, especially in facing all kinds of challenges to the global economy which of course can have an impact on the economic sustainability of ASEAN countries.
On November 13 2022, when the series of activities for the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summit closed, this also became a Chairmanship Handover process from Cambodia to Indonesia. Then, on this occasion, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo symbolically received a gavel from the Cambodian Prime Minister (PM) Hun Sen as a sign that the Homeland has become the Chair of ASEAN in 2023.
Regarding this matter, President Jokowi stated that it was indeed an honor for this nation to be able to become the Chair of ASEAN 2023. Furthermore, he then said that under Indonesia’s chairmanship, ASEAN Matters: the Epicentrum of Growth would be made.
Not only that, but the Head of State also added that indeed ASEAN must become a stable and peaceful region, and be able to become an anchor for world stability . It doesn’t stop there, but ASEAN must also continue to be consistent in upholding international law and not be a proxy for anyone.
According to President Jokowi, ASEAN must indeed be able to become a region with dignity, and also be able to uphold human and democratic values.
Furthermore, President Joko Widodo wants ASEAN to strengthen itself to become a fast-growing, inclusive and sustainable economic region. On the other hand, increasing the capacity of ASEAN institutions is also a concern, in order to be able to respond to the challenges of the next 20 years.
Then, the seventh President of Indonesia explained that there were 3 (three) things that became the main focus of ASEAN in facing economic challenges, namely strengthening the fiscal of countries in the region, including strengthening international financial support, and continuously regulating world trade. take into account the right to development of developing countries.
For him, even though currently the average economic growth projection still shows a positive trend, in the future, the economic challenges in the ASEAN region will become even more severe, especially with the threat of a recession.
Regarding the fiscal strengthening of ASEAN countries, President Joko Widodo pushed for fiscal space to be created for the sake of financial stability. Likewise, spending must be done efficiently and reallocated to crisis impact mitigation programs must be prioritized, including safety nets for the less fortunate.
Furthermore, the Head of State explained that support for sectors that have an impact on the regional economy must also continue to be prioritized. Some of them have been identified by ADB, namely in the tourism, agro-processing and also textile sectors. It is undeniable that these sectors are very important because they continue to involve MSMEs which even represent as much as 90% of the business world in ASEAN.
Discussing other matters, namely related to efforts to strengthen support for international finance, President Jokowi emphasized that it is indeed very important that the role of international financial institutions is in responding to crises and also being able to minimize the impact caused by various financial instruments that are more flexible.
Instruments that function to be able to prevent a crisis . For him, when there are certain institutions and instruments that have been prepared to prevent a crisis from happening, then of course it will be a very important support for ASEAN to be able to better prepare itself and anticipate the possibility of a worsening, namely in the form of a future crisis.
Then, President Joko Widodo also said that world trade must be regulated by taking into account the development rights of developing countries. On this occasion, President Joko Widodo highlighted the difficulties experienced by developing countries when they wanted to do downstream.
This is continuously being fought for by Indonesia’s chairmanship at the 2023 ASEAN Summit. The reason is, President Jokowi is of the opinion that if they continue to export raw materials, developing countries will certainly not get adequate profits. Therefore, according to him, developing countries must continue to fight for the right to downstream. He reiterated the importance of closely collaborating and working together to deal with the current crisis.
In the many challenges ahead, especially those that will continue to haunt and could turn ASEAN countries into a crisis, Indonesia has a very strong commitment and is ready to lead ASEAN to be able to face all the challenges of the global economy.
)* The author is Angkasa Media One Contributor
