It was an honor to speak at the Shangrila dialogue on Balancing Asia-Pacific Minilateralism and ASEAN Centrality at the 20th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Singapore last June 3. I emphasized the significance of maintaining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) centrality in prioritizing the welfare of the regional bloc amidst matters regarding ‘minilateralism’.
While ASEAN remains a driving force in forging regional and multilateral cooperation on various issues, we should recognize minilateral groups and arrangements for its potentials in creating a conducive environment that is beneficial among ASEAN Member States and its partners.
The 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, the foremost security forum in Asia, gathered senior representatives of defense, military, and national security establishments to discuss important and timely security issues in the region.
Among those who spoke at the conference are Ben Wallace, Secretary of State for Defence of United Kingdom; Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence of Canada; Lee Jong-Sup, Minister of National Defense of Republic of Korea; Lloyd Austin III, Secretary of Defense of the United States of America; Defense Minister Boris Pistorius of Germany; as well as Heads of States such as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and Dr. José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste.
