MANILA: Economic ministers from Southeast Asian countries vowed to avoid trade restrictions and push forward with an emergency fuel-sharing scheme as the region scrambles to tackle the implications of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations said that the bloc was “united” in its response to the “far-reaching” economic and energy implications following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
With most Southeast Asian countries mostly reliant on oil imports, the war in the Middle East is also expected to affect regional economic growth.
“We noticed that geopolitical tensions are already affecting economic stability in ASEAN … Ministers agreed that addressing issues, particularly on energy, food and supply chain, are regional in nature. And because they are regional, they require a coordinated regional response,” Philippine Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said in a livestreamed press briefing after meeting with ASEAN economic ministers on Thursday.
“We will keep trade open and predictable. ASEAN agreed to avoid restrictive trade measures, including export bans on essential goods. In times of uncertainty, predictability is stability. And stability begins with keeping goods moving across borders.”
The Philippines, which is ASEAN’s chair this year, has held special meetings to address the escalating impacts of the situation in the Middle East, as the war on Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which funnels more than half of Asia’s oil and a third of the region’s LNG imports.
In a joint statement, Southeast Asian economic ministers highlighted how “rising energy and transport costs are cascading into food systems,” particularly through increased prices of fertilizers and potential disruptions in fertilizer supply chains, and also adding pressure to rising cost-of-living for millions of people.
Roque also told reporters in Manila that ASEAN has agreed to “strengthen and accelerate existing free trade agreements,” which includes upgrading its pacts with China, South Korea and Canada, and “move forward with greater urgency” on the ASEAN power grid, an initiative designed to connect the electricity networks between member countries.
In an effort to tackle the global energy crisis, ASEAN is also pushing to advance the ratification of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security, known as APSA.
“APSA is being pursued to enable coordinated emergency fuel-sharing and collective responses to supply disruption,” Roque said.
As an intergovernmental forum, ASEAN could serve as an effective platform to push for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, said Michael Ricafort, chief economist of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation.
Next week, the Philippines will be hosting Southeast Asian leaders at the 2026 ASEAN Summit in Cebu.
“This is the best time to cooperate and have a single stance on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz because the ASEAN countries are among the hardest hit by this disruption,” he told Arab News on Friday.
“So, that’s the best venue … to really convince both the warring parties to finally reopen.”
