Jakarta (VNA) – Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has called on ASEAN to focus on three key priorities – strengthening regionalism, enhancing resilience, and safeguarding the bloc’s long-term role and standing – amid growing strategic competition and an increasingly fragmented world.
Delivering a policy speech at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on August 4 during his official visit to Indonesia, Anutin said Thailand, as one of ASEAN’s five founding members, will continue contributing to the development of the regional grouping.
Regarding the first priority, the Thai PM said ASEAN unity and centrality are more important than ever. While consensus and non-interference remain fundamental principles, they should be applied flexibly and pragmatically to preserve unity and enhance the bloc’s capacity for collective action.
To strengthen resilience, ASEAN should deepen integration, build reliable supply chains, bolster energy security, advance digital connectivity and enhance technological capacity. At the same time, it should diversify partnerships with middle powers and Global South partners to reduce dependence, expand strategic options and safeguard its strategic autonomy.
Anutin also stressed that ASEAN’s role and standing cannot be taken for granted, but must be earned through constructive contributions to regional and global issues and, above all, through tangible benefits for its people. Thailand, he affirmed, will continue working towards a strong, resilient and outward-looking ASEAN that remains a pillar of peace, stability and prosperity in Southeast Asia.
ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said the Thai PM’s visit came at a historic time, as the bloc faces a range of intertwined challenges, including geopolitical tensions, economic fragmentation, supply chain disruptions, climate change, technological transformation and non-traditional security threats.
He stressed that these challenges underscore the importance of ASEAN unity and centrality, as well as the need to strengthen coordination among member states to effectively respond to the needs and aspirations of their people. The ASEAN Secretariat remains committed to supporting Thailand and other members in implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2045 towards an adaptive, resilient and people-centred ASEAN./.
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