On October 28, the 47th Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ended in Kuala Lumpur. What did negotiations result in, why is the association important in 2025, and in which ways has ASEAN changed?

Declarations upon declarations

Development, the role of the individual, and the shared access to benefits are the guiding lights that help ASEAN participants choose the necessary vectors for integration that can come to the fore at any given moment and require urgent solutions. According to the documents adopted at the summit, today these vectors include everything that contributes to socio-economic progress: ensuring the security of the individual, society, and the state (combating money laundering, assisting in the apprehension of criminals, utilizing all opportunities to counter radicalization and extremism); education (cooperation in higher education will be intensified by the parties, with the goal of nothing less than turning ASEAN into a global knowledge hub); agriculture and forestry (here, the task for the parties is to ensure food security and environmental sustainability of economic processes); sovereign management of natural resources (the mining sector is named as an important area of cooperation for the ASEAN Economic Community); environmental protection (a healthy environment

© New Eastern Outlook