JAKARTA – President Joko Widodo believes Indonesia to be the main pioneer in enhancing ASEAN’s capabilities in responding to global challenges going forward.
President Joko Widodo ensured that Indonesia, which assumes the Chair of ASEAN 2023, will continue to make efforts so that the Southeast Asian countries forum can provide positive contributions and solutions to the current challenging global situation, especially in the economic sector.
ASEAN must be able to answer the challenges that will exist in the next 20 years, Indonesia, which is trusted as ASEAN Chair, must be able to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of ASEAN institutions so that they can contribute in providing solutions in various fields so that ASEAN can clearly see its strategic role in becoming the anchor of the world economy, said President Joko Widodo some time ago.
“Indonesia has been appointed to serve as Chair of ASEAN 2023, so the Government of Indonesia is focused on strengthening ASEAN to become a fast-growing, inclusive and sustainable economic region,” said President Joko Widodo.
ASEAN has the goal of increasing economic growth, social progress and cultural development of its member countries, promoting peace and stability at the regional level, and increasing opportunities to discuss differences among its members in a peaceful manner.
On a different occasion, the Director General of ASEAN Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sidharto R. Suryodipuro said there were a number of priority issues discussed at the 2023 ASEAN Summit such as issues of food security, financial stability, energy security, as well as health issues.
“After the pandemic, we have to make sure we can get back up in various economic growth activities. Including the development of the digital economy,” explained Sidharto.
Sidharto said that this year, ASEAN has a mission to ensure that the region remains a bright spot in the world economy. Of course, this is to maintain stable ASEAN economic growth. “Even in terms of world investment, ASEAN is a bright spot for various countries,” said Sidharto.
Previously, the IMF projected that the ASEAN region was predicted to record economic growth of 5 percent in 2022 and 4.6 percent in 2023. This figure makes ASEAN one of the regions with the highest economic growth.
The results of the assessment of the Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation and Integration Index (ARCII), as quoted from the statement by Lemhanas Governor Andi Widjajanto, show that the region is able to take advantage of the momentum of uncertainty in the midst of the pandemic as a turning point to increase digital capacity and increase regional cooperation. In this case, Southeast Asia is a sub-region that also received good marks, in line with the ongoing expansion of digital transactions.
