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ASEAN SUMMIT 2023 - JAKARTA. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially closed the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta. Jokowi stated that this summit has brought economic benefits to ASEAN.
President Jokowi claimed that many decisions have been made regarding the economic sector. He mentioned the EAS declaration on the epicenter of growth, the development of the EV battery ecosystem, and the acceleration of the implementation of Regional Cross Border Payment and Local Currency transactions.
Furthermore, the implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) has resulted in 93 cooperation projects worth US$ 38.2 billion.
“This is a concrete cooperation that benefits the people,” said Jokowi in a press conference, Thursday (7/9).
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Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi added several things from the achievements in the economic field. According to her, what was produced at the 42nd ASEAN Summit, most of it is needed by the ASEAN Community. For example, issues about migrant border protection, protection of ship crew (ABK), creating village networks, and one health initiative.
Retno mentioned the EV ecosystem. She said, what ASEAN has agreed upon at the 42nd Summit was then translated through cooperation with partners. For example, at the ASEAN Plus Three Summit, cooperation emerged between ASEAN and Plus Three (China, Korea, and Japan) regarding the development of the EV ecosystem.
In addition, Retno said, that during Indonesia's chairmanship, all pillars that can support the epicenter of growth were strengthened. For example, food security, energy security, health, and financial issues.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated, that one of the mainstays of the epicenter of growth is the Digital Economy Framework Agreement.
This is a master plan created under Indonesia's leadership, where the digital economy framework agreement includes a deep agreement. Among them are digitalization including digital talent, digital ID, cyber security, retraining, reskilling, and interoperability infrastructure in ASEAN.
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Airlangga claimed that the Digital Economy Framework Agreement made the potential of ASEAN's digital economy, which was initially estimated to reach US$ 1 trillion, to become US$ 2 trillion.
“The target of this agreement will be completed in 2025 and the drafting has been prepared,” revealed Airlangga.
Then related to energy security, Airlangga said one of the things that was also made a Leaders Declaration was energy interconnectivity which strengthens Trans ASEAN Power Green.
For information, the ASEAN-China Summit produced several cooperation agreements in various sectors contained in six documents. Two documents were adopted, first, the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Mutually Beneficial Cooperation on AOIP. This document contains an agreement to encourage concrete cooperation in the implementation of AOIP, including in the maritime, energy transition, infrastructure, smart cities, e-commerce, and SME sectors.
Second, the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on Deepening Agricultural Cooperation. This document contains a cooperation agreement that makes agriculture a new growth engine to build food resilience.
Meanwhile, four documents were noted in the meeting. First, the ASEAN-China Action Plan on Green Agricultural Development aims to increase the competitive value of ASEAN agricultural products in the global supply chain.
Second, the ASEAN-China Joint Initiative on Enhancing Cooperation on ECommerce aims to promote e-commerce cooperation to advance inclusive economic growth and reduce regional development gaps.
Third, Guidelines for Accelerating the Early Conclusion of an Effective and Substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea As I mentioned earlier, the goal is of course to accelerate the completion of COC negotiations with effective and substantive results.
Fourth, the Joint Initiative on Advancing the China-ASEAN Science, Technology, and Innovation Enhancing Program aims to strengthen cooperation in technology transfer and joint research for strategic issues such as Industry 4.0, digital infrastructure, and clean energy.
Next, the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Summit adopted one document, namely the Joint Statement of the 24th ASEAN-Republic of Korea (RoK) Summit on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) This is also support for the implementation of AOIP cooperation.
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This implements the AOIP concept in concrete cooperation, and this time it is supported by the RoK including of course in the maritime, infrastructure, digitalization, supply chain, and green economy, and SME sectors.
In addition, the Summit also noted one document, namely the Progress Report on the Implementation of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea (RoK) Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity, and Partnership (2021-2025) Which contains the progress of the implementation of the Joint Vision Statement RI-ROK Action Plan 2021-2025.
