ASEAN Summit to tackle post COVID-19 recovery plan, South China Sea

June 26, 2020

Southeast Asian leaders will hold an annual summit by video conference on Friday to discuss a post-COVID-19 recovery plan, regional health cooperation and the South China Sea.

Philippine officials said a recovery plan is crucial in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where there are nearly 137,000 infections, including 3,991 deaths.

Leaders, according to draft statements to be issued at the end of the meeting led by this year’s chairman Vietnam, “noted with grave concern the human and socio-economic costs caused by COVID-19.”

A draft ASEAN Leaders’ Vision Statement said the “implementation of a comprehensive recovery plan with a view to improving stability and resilience of the regional economy” will “alleviate the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” preserve “supply chain connectivity, while staying vigilant of a second wave of infections.”

Friday’s summit will also include discussions on using a regional response fund, a regional reserve of medical supplies, promoting research and development on vaccine and medicines as well as their production, when possible, and cross-border public health procedures through contact tracing and outbreak investigation.

“In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, the convening of the 36th ASEAN Summit is a concrete demonstration of ASEAN’s solidarity and leadership manifested in concrete regional cooperation.  Such solidarity is very much needed in responding to the pandemic,” said ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi in a statement.

“We expect a greater collaborative effort in information and knowledge sharing not only in areas of medical development but also in domestic policies related to social and health security given the vast impact of COVID-19 on communities,” he added.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the leaders’ draft statement, “will affect the prospect of further recovery in the region in 2020.”

Leaders tasked ministers and officials to ensure that the recovery plan “is holistic and inclusive to be effective in taking the region through the reopening and recovery stages, and towards longer term resilience and competitiveness,” the draft said.

Leaders are expected to announce the possible signing in November of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a trade pact being negotiated for several years between ASEAN and trade partners China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

“We welcomed the progress made in preparing the RCEP agreement for signing in November 2020, and looked forward to the signing of the RCEP agreement by the end of this year,” the draft statement said.

The plight of minority Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's Rakhine state is also expected to be raised. DMS