Navigating ASEAN in a changing world

October 21, 2024

MANILA – The recently concluded 44th and 45th Asean Summits showcased Asean’s strong commitment to collaboration and strategic action amidst global challenges. Under Lao PDR’s chairmanship, with the theme “Asean: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience,” leaders from the 10 Asean member states gathered to confront pressing regional issues, shaping a collective vision for a more united, prosperous, and sustainable Southeast Asia. Asean likewise had summits with its partners. These summits are a testament to the importance of dialogue and diplomacy, and are an integral part of Asean’s journey toward deeper integration, enabling a unified regional response to global shifts.

High on agenda of the summits was the progress made on the work in crafting the Asean Community Vision 2045 and its strategic plans, which will guide the region for years to come. As Asean approaches the completion of the Community Vision 2025, it has commenced charting its future direction for the next two decades, emphasizing resilience, connectivity, inclusivity, and sustainability in response to emerging geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges and strategic opportunities. It is in this context that the Asean Leaders’ Declaration on the Development of Strategic Plans to Implement the Asean Community Vision 2045 was adopted.

Asean centrality stood at the heart of the summits’ outcomes. Through the Asean Leaders’ Declaration on the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific for the Future Ready Asean and Asean-Centred Regional Architecture, leaders reaffirmed Asean’s role as the driving force in shaping the regional architecture. They stressed the need for unity in navigating shifting geopolitical and economic landscapes. In engagements with Asean’s