ASEAN Summit: Jokowi Highlights Challenges in COVID-19 Mitigation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo attended the 36th ASEAN Summit via teleconference. Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who acted as the chairman of ASEAN 2020, presided over the summit.

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said the President talked of two major challenges faced by ASEAN in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Indonesian President in his national statement said that the world, including ASEAN countries, are facing two major challenges, namely COVID-19 mitigation and its impact on social economy,” said Retno in a teleconference on Friday, June 26.

The challenges were getting stronger due to the dynamic global situation, which was marked by rising competition or rivalry between major powers, pessimism towards multilateralism, and increasing violations against rule-based orders.

Therefore, Jokowi reminded the importance of cementing cooperation in accelerating economic recovery in the ASEAN region by improving connectivity of goods and services, as well as connectivity of economic players. He suggested that ASEAN gradually start managing travel corridors.

“The President said that ASEAN leaders should assign ministers to discuss this ASEAN travel corridor,” Retno remarked.

Jokowi also highlighted the importance of bolstering regional cooperation to keep ASEAN from becoming power projection areas of big states. “The President of Indonesia said that ASEAN must be a subject and not an object in global politics,” Retno underlined.

Read: Coronavirus, ASEAN Calls for Better Disaster Management

DEWI NURITA