Historic ASEAN-GCC Summit In Riyadh Brings Gulf Region and ASEAN Closer
By V.Sankara
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- Amid the ongoing preoccupation with the Israel-Hamas conflict, the leaders of ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will convene for the first time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday.
The inaugural ASEAN-GCC summit will bring together the two prominent blocks made up of 10-ASEAN member states and the six members of the GCC - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
ASEAN-GCC relations began in 1990 and have been growing over the years as both sides realise the huge potential in expanding trade and geopolitical strategies.
The summit comes at a time when the GCC members are looking to expand their markets and lessen their dependence on traditional Western allies.
GCC countries also want to diversify their petroleum dominated economy while ASEAN is awaiting huge investments from the wealthy GCC members. In a nutshell, the ASEAN-GCC team-up appears to be a win-win situation especially from the trade and economic perspective.
The summit is expected to discuss a wide range of significant topics primarily focusing on trade, energy, and economics apart from enhancing ties between both sides.
Malaysia being the coordinating country for ASEAN-GCC relations certainly has a big role to play in pushing forth the meeting agenda for the ASEAN side.
However, observers remain cautious on the outcome of the inaugural meeting as it could be overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas conflict. A joint statement on humanitarian and regional security concerns could well be part of the meeting outcome.
The summit is expected to adopt a comprehensive plan of action spanning from 2024 to 2028, covering substantive areas of cooperation. This includes heightened collaboration in the energy sector, exchanges on low-carbon technologies, enhanced cooperation in finance and banking, as well as the development of halal certification standards. Additionally, there will be more frequent policy dialogues and exchanges after the summit.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will join his ASEAN colleagues Indonesian President Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi), Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long, and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the summit.
Jokowi will co-chair the summit with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman.
Meanwhile, Geostrategist Prof Dr Azmi Hassan, senior fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research (NASR) when contacted by BERNAMA said there's no doubt that economic matters, especially oil prices, will be among the dominant topics of discussion between ASEAN and GCC during the summit.
“I believe GCC is in a position to potentially alleviate some of the pressure on ASEAN, particularly in light of high oil prices.
“When we talk about economic matters, it's worth noting that among ASEAN countries, only Malaysia and Indonesia currently engage in robust trade with Gulf nations. As such, there's a significant opportunity for other ASEAN countries to enhance and expand trade with GCC members,” he said.
Apart from economic matters, Dr Azmi anticipates that the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict could well be on the agenda and believes three ASEAN members - Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Brunei - will raise this specific issue with the GCC, aiming for collective measures to be taken potentially led by both ASEAN and GCC.
Despite the geographical distance between ASEAN and the conflict zone, he said a united front from both organisations can send a powerful message to the world.
“I hope Prime Minister Anwar will bring up this particular issue in the agenda, alongside the economic matters. In my view, the conflict will likely be the primary focus of the ASEAN-GCC meeting,” he added.
-- BERNAMA
