ASEANFocus+ is delighted to feature Ambassador Gurjit Singh, author of The Mango Flavour: India and ASEAN After a Decade of the Act East Policy (ISEAS Publishing, 2025). Drawing on his decades of experience as a diplomat, Ambassador Singh reflects on ten years of India’s Act East Policy and assesses whether it has fulfilled its goal of deepening engagement with Southeast Asia.
Category Archives: ASEANFocus
In Search of Effective and Peaceful ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanisms
Him Raksmey argues that the effectiveness of ASEAN’s dispute settlement mechanisms depends on the comfort level of each member state vis-à-vis one another and ASEAN as a regional institution.
Rooted in Community: Bridging Gaps in Mangrove and Peatland Conservation
Gauri Sasitharan argues that, in the absence of strong legal protections for mangrove and peatland conservation in ASEAN, grassroots communities are emerging as the region’s most important stewards of these ecosystems.
Eating Chinese Soft Power
Isabelle Chua analyses the rapid expansion of Chinese food brands, highlighting how this trend has become an informal yet influential form of Chinese soft power in Southeast Asia.
Roundtable on the Future of Global Trade
On 2 April 2025, the Trump 2.0 administration announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs aimed at eliminating the US trade deficit with individual countries – in a move hailed by US President Donald Trump as “Liberation Day”. Southeast Asian countries have not been spared, with Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar among the hardest hit. Some countries, including China, have responded with retaliatory measures, raising the risk of further escalation from the US. While a temporary 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs offers a brief respite, this period is set to expire in early July.
ASEAN Vision 2045: What Does It Hold for Our Shared Future?
ASEANFocus+ is pleased to feature H.E. Elizabeth P. Buensuceso, the Philippines’ Eminent Person to the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Post-2025 ASEAN Community Vision (ACV). As the ACV 2045 was adopted at the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Ambassador Buensuceso offers insights into its development, sharing the formulation process and how the ACV 2045 will help ASEAN navigate an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving geopolitical environment.
Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship: Laying the Groundwork for Vision 2045
Joanne Lin, Melinda Martinus and Kristina Fong analyse how Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship and Vision 2045 reflect ASEAN’s strategic recalibration amid rising geopolitical uncertainty.
The Inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit: Economic Aspirations Amid Strategic Ambiguity
Sufian Jusoh and Joanne Lin assess Malaysia’s bold initiative to host the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Summit, exploring its strategic rationale, economic potential, and the implications for ASEAN’s centrality in a shifting global order.
An Intelligent Trade-Off: AI as a Double-Edged Sword in Southeast Asia’s Climate Battle
Indira Zahra Aridati argues that although AI offers positive benefits for Southeast Asia’s climate battle, the region should not look at its usage through rose-tinted glasses. Without careful consideration, such systems may inadvertently undermine and be counterintuitive to the very climate goals that they aim to achieve.
ASEAN Can Help to Address Brain Drain in Southeast Asia
Melinda Martinus argues that while individual ASEAN member states are ramping up efforts to reverse brain drain, the region can explore a more coordinated approach to tackle this growing challenge.