The handover of ASEAN chairmanship from Cambodia to Indonesia was carried out at the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh last November 2022. Indonesia’s chairmanship period in ASEAN itself begins on 1 January 2023 and will last for a year until 31 December 2023.
Thus, Indonesia officially served as chair of ASEAN for 2023. President Jokowi expressed optimism that ASEAN would remain relevant and become an important center of economic growth in the region. According to him, ASEAN is still important and relevant for the people, for the region, and for the world.
As one of the founding countries of ASEAN and the largest country in ASEAN, many parties pin their hopes on Indonesia to be able to make various breakthroughs and innovations in dealing with various world problems that are also faced by the region.
Indonesia is determined to direct 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.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi said the theme of ASEAN 2023 was “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth .” The theme consists of two major elements, namely ASEAN Matters and Epicentrum of Growth.
Retno Marsudi said the first element was ASEAN Matters. How can Indonesia, with its chairmanship, continue to make ASEAN relevant and important not only for the Indonesian people, but also for the people of ASEAN and beyond . So the beyond is outside ASEAN.
He added that for the second element, ASEAN as a center of growth shows that economic growth in the ASEAN region always grows higher than other countries outside ASEAN.
If you look at the history of ASEAN, it is always related to economic problems and almost all the time it shows that economic growth in the ASEAN region has always been higher than that of the world. For the 2023 projection, for example, the ADB’s projection for ASEAN growth is 4.7%, while the World Bank’s projection for world economic growth is 1.7%.
The Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto said that Indonesia’s chairmanship at the 3023 ASEAN Summit was expected to be a momentum to show Indonesia’s economic resilience. That way, it can attract foreign investors to invest.
According to him, holding the ASEAN Summit can boost the national economy in various cities that are hosting side events . Airlangga asked all parties to work together to make the best contribution at the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
It should be noted, “The digital economy has been re-appointed as one of the three pillars of Indonesia’s chairmanship in ASEAN in addition to recovery, rebuilding and sustainability with the hope of accelerating inclusive digital transformation to reduce the digital divide in the region.
In 2022, Indonesia is already a major player in digital ASEAN. This is because 40% of ASEAN’s total transactions originate from ASEAN. The value of the digital economy in 2025 is predicted to reach USD 130 billion and will continue to increase to around USD 300 billion in 2030.
Seeing this, President Joko Widodo brought the ASEAN Summit (KTT) to ASEAN in 2023 to be even more different and to a higher level. The holding of the ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo also aims to promote the super priority tourism destination (DPSP) area.
Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani said Australia provided support to Indonesia’s Chair at the 2023 ASEAN Summit. Previously, Australia also supported the discussion of the financial transition agenda in discussions at the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) . Thus, the two countries agreed to strengthen bilateral relations between the Indonesian and Australian Ministries of Finance (Kemenkeu), which have been well established so far.
Indonesia’s stability in organizing this grand event is very mature starting from various sectors, careful preparations in the security sector have also been realized by the Indonesian National Police.
National Police Chief Listyo Sigit revealed that he had deployed the National Police Mobile Brigade Corps (Kobrimob), as troops tasked with dealing with potential escalations that have high levels of threats, as a security strategy. This is because Brimob personnel have been well prepared and mature in dealing with all forms of potential and threats that could occur at any time during the ASEAN Summit.
According to him, the ASEAN Summit must also be carried out properly. By looking into the security mirror when carrying out security for the G-20 Summit.
Various benefits will certainly be felt by the people of Labuan Bajo and even the people of NTT in general, by holding this Summit event. Like a young Catholic figure, as well as a teaching staff in Labuan Bajo, Ani Ogor, who expressed his gratitude to President Joko Widodo for entrusting Labuan Bajo as the host of the 42nd ASEAN Summit.
We hope that the ASEAN Summit will improve the tourism sector and the creative industry, and encourage MSME players to be more competitive.
In addition, the journalist from Jurnalflores.com, Gecio Viana, expressed his appreciation and gratitude to the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Jokowi, who chose Labuan Bajo City as the venue for the ASEAN Summit and hopes that this moment can increase tourism and the creative industry and encourage MSME players to be competitive. Not only that, we hope to be able to meet public expectations, that after the Covid-19 pandemic, we can rise together and share our passion together.
Another Indigenous Community Leader, Hendrikus Jempo emphasized that not all regions were entrusted with being the location for this international scale event. And Labuan Bajo has its own charm so it was chosen as the location for the ASEAN Summit. Therefore, the community needs to continue to support the implementation of the ASEAN Summit, to join hands in supporting the implementation of the ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo.
We hope that the 2023 ASEAN Chair will not only make Indonesia an agenda setter, but also make Indonesia a decision maker and implementer of policies and decisions taken at the ASEAN Summit.
)* The author is a Law Student at Budi Luhur University
