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Leaders of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) discussed regional peace, security and prosperity on Sunday at the bloc's 49th summit in Manila, Philippines, amid mounting regional and global challenges.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., whose country holds the bloc's rotating chairmanship, called for unity and cooperation among member states during his opening address in Pasay City.
"We differ in size, history, culture, and circumstance, but become as equals, carrying the hopes of our peoples and the shared responsibility to transform them into a common purpose," Marcos told regional leaders.
"We come from different shores, yet we have chosen to travel forward together," he added.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is attending as a guest of the three-day summit, held under the theme "Navigating Our Future Together." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also joined the leaders of the 11-member bloc for closed-door deliberations.
Marcos said geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, emerging technologies, climate change and transnational threats were reshaping the region faster than individual countries could respond.
He stressed the importance of collective decision-making in addressing shared challenges and preparing the region for future generations.
"Over the coming days, alongside our external partners, the choices we will make shape how ASEAN meets the challenges of today, seizes the opportunities of tomorrow, and prepares the region for the coming generations," he said.
ASEAN leaders are scheduled to hold separate summits with China, Japan, Australia, India, South Korea and the United States during the three-day gathering.
United States President Donald Trump is expected to arrive Tuesday.
Referring to the conflict in the Middle East, Marcos warned that Southeast Asian countries faced risks of disruptions to transport, energy and food supplies.
"ASEAN responded quickly, rethinking, recalibrating, and redesigning, while keeping our longer-term work at center," he said.
"This collective work served us well and enabled us to focus on the task before us," he added.
Marcos emphasized that no member state possessed all the resources, capabilities or solutions needed to address emerging challenges.
"But where national capacities are tested, regional strength reinforces," he said.
“That principle has guided us in our first year of implementing ASEAN 2045, our shared future through three priorities: peace and security anchors, prosperity corridors, and people empowerment,” Marcos added.
Addressing the summit's plenary session, Marcos reviewed the bloc's progress under Philippine leadership and outlined priorities for ASEAN's 2045 vision.
He said the vision required examining whether regional institutions could respond to increasingly complex security challenges and whether economies could remain competitive amid changing technology, trade, energy demands and supply chains.
Marcos said the Philippines had organized its chairmanship around three priorities: peace and security anchors, prosperity corridors and people empowerment.
Under the first priority, he emphasized maintaining regional peace and stability, strengthening maritime cooperation and advancing an "effective and substantive" code of conduct in the South China Sea.
He said the code should comply with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Marcos also highlighted disaster preparedness, climate risks and stronger regional responses to transnational and emerging threats.
The Philippine president also pointed to ASEAN's expanding diplomatic network, saying the bloc had welcomed seven new high contracting parties to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.
Türkiye joined as ASEAN's 12th dialogue partner, while Denmark, Germany and Qatar became sectoral dialogue partners, he said.
"The next task is to ensure that this network delivers greater benefits for our peoples," Marcos said.
He stressed that ASEAN's partnerships should advance regional priorities, respond to member states' needs and translate political goodwill into practical cooperation.
"Our partnership should continue to advance ASEAN priorities, respond to the needs of our member states and turn political goodwill into practical cooperation, with ASEAN at the center of the regional architecture that we have built," he said.
"We should therefore continue to deepen our partnerships on the basis of mutual benefit, translate comprehensive and strategic partnerships and plans of action into concrete cooperation," he added.
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