PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will continue to strengthen regional integration and resilience as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is slowly gaining momentum to become a global power, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the president welcomed the study made by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), which showed that Asean “is gaining the economic and strategic weight that could strengthen its position as a global power.”
The Philippines, represented by the president, is the chairman of Asean this year.
The PIDS said that Asean’s ascent as a global power would “depend not on replicating traditional major-power models, but on developing a uniquely Southeast Asian form of influence grounded in inclusivity, cooperation, and collective resilience.”
“The president welcomes the recognition and the findings of PIDS. Asean aims not only to maintain that gain, but it should accelerate economic growth even further,” Castro said in a press briefing.
The PIDS said as Asean chairman, the Philippines should take this opportunity “to advance initiatives that strengthen regional integration, institutional capacity, and Asean’s strategic autonomy amid intensifying geopolitical competition.”
“As Asean chair, the Philippines will continue working to strengthen this regional integration and resilience while ensuring that Asean remains united and central to regional peace, stability, and economic growth,” Castro said. “The members of Asean truly need to be united, and they can see how Asean is currently working toward stability and economic growth.”
The study, “Asean’s Ascent: A Global Power in the Making,” by PIDS Supervising Research Specialist Mark Anthony Barral and Senior Research Fellow Francis Mark Quimba, examined whether Asean can move beyond its traditional role as a regional facilitator and become a more independent center of influence in an increasingly multipolar world.
They said that Asean’s economic transformation provides a strong foundation for this potential. Its combined gross domestic product increased from $118 billion in 2000 to $3.37 trillion in 2023, while its population has surpassed 685 million, giving the bloc substantial economic and market weight.
