Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met online on Tuesday, April 14, to discuss current responses and potential cooperation measures to address COVID-19 in the region. The 10 heads of state agreed to strengthen cooperation in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The summit was convened by Vietnam, the ASEAN chair for 2020, chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. He urged Southeast Asian leaders to set up an emergency fund to tackle the coronavirus as the pandemic ravages the region's tourism and export-reliant economies. The morning meeting was also attended by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith. To build resilience for future economic shocks, countries in the region should have common criteria on travel and trade restrictions, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
"It would be useful for ASEAN to have a set of common criteria or guidelines on when to impose travel or trade restrictions, and when and how we can relax them and with what appropriate safeguards," PM Lee said. The ASEAN Coordinating Council Working Group on Public Health Emergencies should study this issue, he added. Vietnam will use the 10-member summit to propose funding to deal with the pandemic, building emergency medical stockpiles, sharing resources as well as continuing to stress-test ASEAN's responses to future outbreaks. Hanoi will also call for an "exit strategy" for the battered economies of Southeast Asia, which rely on open borders to fuel tourism and feed supply chains for their exports. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who accompanied President Joko Widodo, said cooperation between ASEAN countries includes information exchange, research and development, and medical treatment.
“ASEAN leaders will urge their economic ministers to prepare for the recovery period in the future. They will also observe SMEs sector and other vulnerable groups," Foreign Minister Marsudi added. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called for stronger cooperation among countries to combat the coronavirus outbreak, calling it an “unfolding catastrophe – unprecedented in scale and devastating in impact for all.” Specifically, he urged to strengthen the ASEAN's health care system, ensure food security, support research initiatives on finding a cure, and prepare for future outbreaks.
“Retreating from the regional and global connections cannot be the answer. To effectively overcome the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN must collaborate and coordinate within our region and beyond,” he added. The Thai economy, the second-largest in ASEAN, is expected to shrink by 5.3 percent this year - a 22-year low - with millions left jobless in the politically febrile kingdom. The Philippines has already recorded over a million displaced workers and 18 million low-income households waiting for cash assistance from the government. The virtual meeting concluded with a declaration that proposed the establishment of a COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund to boost emergency stockpiles for future outbreaks while pledging further co-operation among member states and voicing commitment to keeping ASEAN’s markets open for trade and investment.
"We pledge to remain united and vigilant against COVID-19 and commit to working closely with the WHO, ASEAN’s external partners and the international community to suppress the spread of the pandemic, protect people’s lives and livelihoods, [and] maintain socio-economic stability...," the joint declaration read.
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