MANILA ( WNAM MONITORING): The Philippines urged on Thursday for stronger crisis coordination among Southeast Asian countries in the face of the disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, as regional ministers meet ahead of a leaders’ summit.
As many Southeast Asian nations rely on the Middle East for crude oil imports, they have been among the hardest hit by the energy supply crisis sparked by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran that began on Feb. 28.
“For ASEAN, which imports about 66 percent of its crude oil, this crisis meant a significant increase in fuel and energy cost, which eventually led to higher prices for agricultural inputs, food and basic commodities,” Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro said at the start of a foreign ministers’ meeting in Cebu.
“The crisis also caused disruptions in some sectors, including transportation and tourism, and put at risk millions of ASEAN nationals in the Middle East.”
As chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year, the Philippines has held special meetings aimed at coordinating a regional response to the crisis.
“Our discussions at the special meetings have pointed out that ASEAN needs to strengthen our crisis coordination, and institutional readiness in times of crisis,” Lazaro said.
The Philippines, which imports over 90 percent of its crude oil from the Gulf, is one of the most affected by the war on Iran, with the country declaring a national energy emergency in March after local diesel and petrol prices more than doubled.
The Gulf also accounts for about 80 percent of Vietnam’s crude oil imports, while petrol stations across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have faced supply shortages in recent months and had to halt operations.
The growing economic toll of the war in the Middle East is top of the agenda this week in Cebu, where Southeast Asian leaders will gather for the annual ASEAN summit on Friday.
Though there is “very limited space” in terms of capacity and capability for Southeast Asian countries to “act as actively as possible” amid the war on Iran, the bloc’s summit is an opportunity to consolidate a united approach, said Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and international studies lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila.
“There needs to be a more consolidated approach among Southeast Asian countries to really recognize issues at hand and at the same time, provide a needed mechanism to pull resources, particularly energy resources and to strengthen supply chains,” he told Arab News.
“Basically how do we ensure that despite not being able to change the situation, what can we do within in order to soften the blow?”
The 11-member regional bloc earlier vowed to keep trade open and avoid restrictive measures, while also pushing to advance the ratification of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security, known as APSA, which will enable coordinated emergency-fuel sharing.
ASEAN has also agreed to upgrade its trade pacts with China, South Korea and Canada, strengthen intra-ASEAN trade and move ahead on the ASEAN power grid, an initiative designed to connect the electricity networks between member countries.
The leaders’ gathering on Friday is expected to produce a statement focused on the bloc’s collective response on the war in the Middle East and lay out the foundation for stronger regional coordination for future emergencies.
