Southeast Asia’s leaders confront fallout from Iran war at ASEAN summit

Southeast Asian leaders have gathered in the Philippines to coordinate a joint response to the fallout from the war on Iran, which has prompted a surge in energy prices across the region.

Speaking at the opening of the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the United States-Israeli war on Iran had been felt “through higher living costs” and “threatened livelihoods” both in “our homelands and amongst our nationals in the Middle East”.

Marcos said ASEAN, an 11-member bloc that includes the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, should “strengthen coordination” and “pursue practical collective measures to safeguard a stable energy supply and improve interconnectivity”.

Southeast Asia has been among the regions hardest hit by the conflict and Iran’s effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, which has blocked a large portion of the region’s supply of oil and natural gas.

ASEAN, whose members represent more than 700 million people, is set to issue a joint statement calling for the reopening of the strait and improved crisis communication and coordination, according to a leaked draft seen by multiple media outlets, including The Associated Press and Channel News Asia.

The bloc’s statement will also focus on how member countries can work together on energy and food security, according to the draft.

The Philippines has been pushing for ASEAN members to sign a voluntary energy-sharing agreement to shoulder supply disruptions such as those related to the Iran war, as well as pushing for the establishment of an ASEAN power grid to integrate the region’s electricity networks by 2045.

Manila declared a national emergency in March amid energy shortages linked to the war, while countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia have imposed a range of energy-saving measures such as price caps and work-from-home schemes.

Petrochemical companies in Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore have also declared force majeure to relieve themselves of liability for their contracts due to forces beyond their control.

Tan Hsien-Li, an expert on ASEAN at NUS Law School in Singapore, said she expects the bloc to push for more economic cooperation internally and with “dialogue partners or like-minded regional organisations in Latin America or the Asia-Pacific”.

Tan said she expects to see more “substantive outcomes” than is typical of ASEAN summits.

“Hopefully, greater implementation of existing cooperation agreements pertaining to the ASEAN Economic Community, as well as decisive action regarding the ASEAN Power Grid and the ASEAN Digital Economic Framework Agreement that is still being negotiated,” she told Al Jazeera.

ASEAN’s joint statement is also likely to stress the importance of international law, national sovereignty and freedom of navigation, according to the draft.