Southeast Asia holds an increasingly important global role, according to experts who gathered for a symposium held at the University of Oxford in the UK.
The Southeast Asian Studies Symposium on March 22 - 23 attracted the participation of some 300 scholars, researchers and politicians from 20 countries.
Attendees discussed contemporary issues faced by the region, for example legal reform, integration and economic development, environmental protection, and natural resources exploitation.
They said Southeast Asia possesses significant advantages for active development, yet some traditional and non-traditional security challenges have been threatening its stability.
In terms of the latter, they said more regional cooperation is required to enhance the effectiveness of coping with issues such as diseases, environmental pollution, food security and climate change.
Meanwhile, risks of conflicts over sovereignty on land and at sea are considered a major traditional security concern. Experts said the role of ASEAN needs to be strongly utilised, especially in efforts to solve territorial disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means.
First organised in 2012 by the Southeast Asia Project of the University of Oxford , the symposium has become the world’s largest annual conference on the region.-VNA
The Southeast Asian Studies Symposium on March 22 - 23 attracted the participation of some 300 scholars, researchers and politicians from 20 countries.
Attendees discussed contemporary issues faced by the region, for example legal reform, integration and economic development, environmental protection, and natural resources exploitation.
They said Southeast Asia possesses significant advantages for active development, yet some traditional and non-traditional security challenges have been threatening its stability.
In terms of the latter, they said more regional cooperation is required to enhance the effectiveness of coping with issues such as diseases, environmental pollution, food security and climate change.
Meanwhile, risks of conflicts over sovereignty on land and at sea are considered a major traditional security concern. Experts said the role of ASEAN needs to be strongly utilised, especially in efforts to solve territorial disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means.
First organised in 2012 by the Southeast Asia Project of the University of Oxford , the symposium has become the world’s largest annual conference on the region.-VNA
