JAKARTA – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday called on South-east Asian leaders to become bolder, more agile and devise a long-term tactical plan to address growing global challenges.

Likening Asean to a large ship, Mr Widodo said it has a major responsibility towards the hundreds of millions of people who are sailing together on it.

“And despite having to sail through a storm, we as leaders must ensure that this ship can continue to sail, and we have to be captains of our own ship to achieve peace, to achieve stability, to achieve prosperity together,” he told his counterparts at the start of the plenary session of the 43rd Asean Summit.

Nine South-east Asian leaders, including newly minted Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and prospective member Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, were present.

New Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin did not attend, and was represented instead by Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sarun Charoensuwan.

Myanmar generals, barred from high-level Asean meetings for failing to make concrete progress on a peace plan to end a crisis, did not send a non-political representative.

Earlier, in his opening remarks to kick off the three-day summit from Tuesday to Thursday, Mr Widodo also repeated his consistent message that Asean will not become a proxy for any power and that it will cooperate with anyone for peace and prosperity.

“Don’t make our Asean ship an arena of rivalry that destroys each other, but make this Asean ship a space to foster cooperation to create prosperity, create stability, create peace that is not only for the region but also for the world,” he said.

Indonesia, this year’s rotating chair of the 10-nation bloc, is facing mounting pressures to resolve the situation in Myanmar, which has sunk into violence following a military coup in 2021, and speed up the negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the disputed South China Sea.

To Asean leaders, Mr Widodo also noted that future challenges “are increasingly difficult and result in a struggle for influence by big power”, but Asean’s unity and centrality are key in addressing this.

Unity does not mean that there will be no differences in opinions, but instead there is harmony in diversity, he said, adding: “Differences in opinions actually nourish democracy and precisely show that we as a family have an equal position.”

He added: “The world’s oceans are too wide to navigate alone. On the way, there will be other ships, Asean’s partner ships. Let us together realise equal and mutually beneficial cooperation to sail together towards the epicentrum of growth.”

Under the theme “Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, the priorities of the summit are to lay a strong foundation for the grouping’s long-term vision, beef up its resilience in facing the current and future challenges, strengthen its position as an epicentre of growth, and ensure a safe and peaceful Indo-Pacific region.

The three-day talks will kick off with the plenary and retreat sessions of the Asean Summit, and other high-level meetings with dialogue partners including the East Asia Summit and the Asean Plus Three Summit.

At the plenary session, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Asean must guard against divisive actions from major powers, and constantly uphold Asean centrality.

On the new Chinese standard map claiming sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea, Datuk Seri Anwar said Malaysia has issued its statement clearly spelling out its position, and that issues in the South China Sea “must be managed in a peaceful and rational way through dialogue and consultation” in accordance with the universally recognised principle of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.

At the evening retreat session, Asean leaders discussed the review of the implementation of the five-point consensus and the implementation of the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

The peace plan, a “collective effort by Asean” and adopted in April 2021, will remain the guideline to end the crisis in Myanmar, said Mr Widodo.

It calls for a dialogue among all parties, an immediate halt to violence in Myanmar, the appointment of an Asean special envoy to facilitate mediation, humanitarian assistance and a visit by an Asean delegation to Myanmar to meet all concerned parties.

Indonesia, he said, has carried out more than 145 “very intensive engagements” with 70 stakeholders in the last nine months.

“And Indonesia has seen that trust has begun to emerge between one stakeholder and another, except for the military junta,” he said.

“This is the time for Asean to continue to push for inclusive national dialogue as the key to resolving the Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led political crises.”

Mr Widodo added that humanitarian assistance is still being carried out, but the “process is still very long”.

“Therefore, in the interest of the Asean family, we must have the courage to self-evaluate, discuss problems openly and find solutions together,” he said.

“We need more tactical and extraordinary efforts to implement the five-point consensus.”

In a statement, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his country is “ready to take the helm and chair” Asean in 2026 instead of Myanmar, without giving any reason.

Mr Widodo said that the Asean-Indo-Pacific Forum is a concrete form of the AOIP, and has attracted a lot of interest from both the government and the private sector,

An Indonesian initiative, the AOIP seeks to enhance Asean’s role in maintaining regional stability and contributing to the progress and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.