Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), from left to right: Malaysia's Saifuddin Abdullah, Philippines' Teodoro Locsin, Singapore's Vivian Balakrishnan, Cambodia's Prak Sokhonn, Indonesia's Retno Marsudi, Laos' Saleumxay Kommasith and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi pose for a group photo during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat in Phnom Penh on Feb 17, 2022. (Photo: AFP)
The plight of Myanmar and the weak state of the Southeast Asian economies will underscore this week’s summit of foreign ministers from the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh.
Divisions have emerged within the bloc since Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, which share religious values with Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya, formed a troika and are demanding a much stronger response to a junta that seized power from the elected government early last year.
Singapore and the Philippines are also irritated by ASEAN’s stand but Thailand, Cambodia and Laos — all led by military-backed regimes — have been accused by human rights groups of aiding the regime headed by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.
Last week’s execution of four democracy advocates effectively ended attempts by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, as this year’s Chair, to normalize ties between ASEAN and the junta.
It was a policy choice that only hardened existing divisions within the bloc and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he was disappointed with ASEAN for doing too little and “we’ve seen no positive movement” while the “repression of the Burmese people” continues.
Blinken will be among the foreign ministers from ASEAN’s 10 dialogue partners, which include Australia, India, Japan and South Korea, attending the summit. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has also confirmed but he was not expected to meet with Blinken.
"Almost five million people were pushed back into extreme poverty over the last two years"
Thorny issues like the disputed South China Sea islands and the war in Ukraine could prove confrontational but analysts said the most pressing problem was the region’s economy and its 682.3 million people.
Inflation is taking hold while governments are struggling to rebuild their economies and replenish their state coffers, which have been spent on combatting the Covid-19 pandemic. Debt-laden Laos is particularly vulnerable.
The number of people living in extreme poverty — defined as living on less than US$1.90 a day — had been on the decline in Southeast Asia before Covid-19.
In 2017, the number of people living in extreme poverty was 21.2 million. That fell to 18 million in 2018 and then 14.9 million in 2019.
However, the Asian Development bank estimates almost five million people were pushed back into extreme poverty over the last two years.
One analyst, who declined to be named, said trade deserved its place near the top of the agenda as the ASEAN Economic Community — which was launched seven years ago with the aim of opening up trade, broadening markets and job prospects — had failed during the pandemic.
“There are a lot of poor people in Southeast Asia and many are struggling with the price of rice and making ends meet. Foreign receipts have collapsed alongside the tourism industry and there’s still a long way to go in just getting cross-border trade back to where it was before Covid,” he said.