Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is in Jakarta, Indonesia attending the 43rd Asean Summit, where he warned that the bloc was risking its relevance.

The 43rd Asean Summit, held from Sep. 7, is currently being held in Indonesia, the Asean Chair for 2023.

Heading the agenda for the summit is close Asean economic integration, as well as addressing the geopolitical and regional crises that the bloc faces.

Myanmar and superpower rivalry

According to Nikkei, Asean leaders proposed a novel approach towards the ongoing crisis.

Asean will now spread responsibility engagement from the current annual Asean chair, to include the previous and next chairs as well, informally known as the "troika model".

For example, this would mean from next year the troika would be Laos as the current chair, Indonesia as the previous chair, and Malaysia as the 2025 chair.

The aim of the model was to "ensure sustainability" in the bloc's approach to Myanmar.

PM Lee alluded to the Myanmar crisis, as well as growing contest for influence by great powers, saying that the consensus based "Asean way" has opened Asean to criticisms of being "ineffective", as reported by CNA.

“The solution is not to remain passive and avoid taking positions on all issues. Otherwise, Asean will lose its relevance. We have to be prepared to engage all sides actively, in mutually beneficial ways".

Myanmar, under military control since a coup in February 2021, has reneged on its participation in the Five Point Consensus, an agreement to reduce violence and allow Asean access to key stakeholders that Myanmar and the bloc initially agreed to.

Since then Myanmar's political leadership has been frozen out of Asean summits, with an empty chair in the place of where the Myanmar representation would have been.

"Epicentrum of growth"

Away from the regional and geopolitical contest, Indonesia has been keen to emphasise the economic potential of the region, naming the theme of their chairmanship the "Epicentrum of Growth".

PM Lee, as quoted by CNA, said that economic integration must remain "at the core" of Asean's agenda, urging more to be done to extend existing trade agreements within Asean to include "emerging issues like digital, the environment, and trade in crisis situations".

Sentiments surrounding greater Asean economic integration were echoed by Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim, who also urged greater integration, noting that inter-Asean trade only accounted for 22.3 per cent of Asean trade, according to The Star.

Top image via Lee Hsien Loong/Facebook