ASEAN News

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and members of his Cabinet canceled plans to obtain AstraZeneca vaccine shots on Friday (Mar 12) after the country postponed their use due to fears of blood clots in some European countries, according to a health official. After a suspension of inoculations using the vaccine in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, Prasit Watanapa, dean of …

MANILA – During the 11th Asean Military Operations Meeting (AMOM-11), held virtually on Wednesday, military officials from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) exchanged views on various security issues such as terrorism, cybersecurity, and the coronavirus pandemic. Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon, AFP deputy chief-of-staff for operations, represented the Philippines at the conference, revealing that the number …

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday that Indonesia hopes the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with Singapore will increase two-way investment by 18% to 22% over the next five years (Mar 9). She added that the treaty, which entered into force on Tuesday after both sides exchanged instruments of ratification, would help Singapore and Indonesia speed up their economic recovery …

Activists said on Tuesday that hundreds of young Myanmar demonstrators who had been trapped by security forces in a Yangon district overnight had been able to escape, following demands from western powers and the United Nations for them to be allowed to leave. Myanmar has been thrown into turmoil following the army’s occupation and arrest of elected leader Aung San …

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez is calling for rice to be added to a list of vital products excluded from restrictive trade measures in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). To avoid supply disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ten member states signed a memorandum of understanding in November promising to refrain …

Southeast Asian countries rated the pandemic as their top concern in 2020, and China ranks first among its dialogue partners in terms of assisting the region. This is according to the ASEAN Studies Centre at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore’s 2021 State of Southeast Asia survey study. The majority of respondents (60.7 percent) from the ten members of the …

SINGAPORE – As part of their efforts to revive the region’s ailing tourism industry, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are considering a digital coronavirus vaccine certificate. Allowing people who have been inoculated against COVID-19 to travel may help resurrect an intraregional industry that had surpassed 50 million annual tourist arrivals prior to the pandemic. According to Azmin …

A month after the military seized power in Myanmar in a coup, the Philippines requested the immediate release of imprisoned civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a complete return to the previous state of affairs. In a statement read aloud at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ informal virtual meeting on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. acknowledged …

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are preparing for a special meeting with Myanmar’s ruling military on Tuesday in the hopes of quelling deadly violence and opening a channel to resolve the country’s worsening political crisis. The talks will take place two days after Myanmar’s bloodiest day of unrest since the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago, …

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has a long-standing policy of political non-interference in member states’ internal affairs. Despite the events of the previous five years in Myanmar, where the military carried out “clearing operations” against some 1 million civilians belonging to the Rohingya minority, the association remained committed to that theory. This, though, will not be an option …