PHNOM PENH, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must remain united amid rising strategic rivalry and global uncertainty, experts said in Phnom Penh on Thursday.
Eng Kok Thay, a secretary of state at Cambodia's Council of Ministers, said that the global economy is no longer driven solely by market forces. Instead, it is shaped by geopolitics, strategic competition, technological rivalry, and national security considerations.
He pointed out that previous economic crises, such as the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, were largely financial. Today's environment is fundamentally different.
"Economics has become an extension of geopolitics," he told an audience of around 100 local and foreign policymakers, diplomats, scholars and experts at the fifth Phnom Penh Forum.
Trade restrictions, technology controls, industrial policies, economic sanctions, tariffs, investment screening, critical mineral competition, energy security, and supply-chain diversification have all become tools of strategic competition, he added.
With a population of more than 693 million people, ASEAN stands in a vital strategic position as one of the world's fastest-growing economic regions, he said.
"This strategic position allows ASEAN to become a bridge rather than a battlefield," Kok Thay said. "Rather than choosing sides, ASEAN can become the platform where cooperation continues despite competition elsewhere."
The official emphasized that ASEAN must enhance cooperation to tackle non-traditional security challenges.
He added that maintaining unity and strength requires joint action against online scams, financial crimes, human trafficking, and illicit financial flows, rather than engaging in competitive blame or allowing domestic politics to derail regional trust.
Kok Thay said ASEAN has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to overcome major hardships. From past financial crashes and the pandemic to regional conflicts, the bloc has consistently emerged stronger through cooperation.
He emphasized that ASEAN unity serves as the foundation for peace, stability and shared prosperity.
"If we remain united and deepen cooperation, ASEAN will not merely endure this period of uncertainty. It will shape the future regional order," he said.
Sok Touch, president of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said while every member state has the right and need to develop relations with different external partners, the broader collective must come first.
"Before considering alignment with any partner, we must consider the implications for ASEAN unity," he said. "Members' external relations should strengthen ASEAN, not import external rivalries into our common home."
Touch warned that ASEAN centrality risks losing its meaning if member states treat it as a repetitive phrase rather than translating it into action.
"ASEAN centrality is not protected by standing in the middle between great powers, but by standing firmly on its own principles and building the capacity to shape the region's future," he said.
"ASEAN must be united without losing diversity, open without losing autonomy, cooperative without becoming an instrument of others, and peaceful while retaining the capacity to defend its legitimate interests," he added.
U Htin Lynn, an executive member of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, warned that ASEAN's cohesion is facing growing pressure.
He noted that some of its core norms, particularly non-interference, consultation and consensus, and quiet diplomacy, have not been adequately translated into practical mechanisms capable of addressing today's complex regional challenges.
"If we want to strengthen ASEAN unity, we need to consider how these principles can be better designed and implemented," he said. "This will allow ASEAN to become more responsive and effective without undermining sovereignty, equality, or consensus."
Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, said that spillovers from global conflicts, the rise of minilateral arrangements, and intensifying competition in security, technology, and economics require ASEAN to strengthen its own mechanisms and keep the region open, inclusive, and rules-based.
"ASEAN resilience must therefore rest on diversifying markets and supply chains, strengthening intra-regional trade and connectivity, safeguarding energy and food security, and expanding digital economic capacity," he said. ■