Manila conference discusses ASEAN leadership amid new world order

Manila (VNA) – The Albert del Rosario Institute on Strategic and International Studies (ADRI) held a conference themed “ASEAN Leadership amid a New World Order” at Shangri-La Hotel in Manila on November 8.

The event was organised on the threshold of the 31st ASEAN Summit in the Philippines.

It drew about 150 delegates, including officials of the Philippines, the US, Japan, Australia, Singapore and Vietnam, along with representatives of some businesses based in the Philippines.

At the first session on building an ASEAN Community to cope with security and political challenges, participants talked the East Sea situation and the settlement of sovereignty disputes.

Former Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert Del Rosario called on regional leaders to maintain ASEAN’s solidarity, unity and central role so as to resolve East Sea disputes on the basis on international law, especially the Hague tribunal’s ruling on the Philippines’s lawsuit against China in July 2016.

At the session on enhancing the social and cultural foundation in ASEAN cooperation, participants discussed ways to promote ASEAN’s solidarity and unity to handle emerging non-traditional security challenges.

Meanwhile, the third session on realising the region’s economic integration process looked into the enhancement of economic cooperation through cooperation mechanisms of ASEAN.-VNA