Former Indonesian Cabinet minister and outgoing managing director of Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank in Washington DC - Dr Mari Elka Pangestu - is an avowed “Aseanist”.

In this episode, she tells host Nirmal Ghosh why she urges Asean leaders to take charge and strengthen open regionalism, as a collective “middle power” which can use its agency and benefit from opportunities in the midst of uncertainty. 

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:01 Asean is one of the potential middle powers that can navigate great power competition

3:01 We need to recognize that security and economics are not siloed

03:58 Open regionalism means you are not exclusive to either power

05:10 A potential concern is that each Asean country goes its own way because of national interest

05:50 Diversification and deconcentration is happening and you want Asean to be an attractive location

06:47 Asean needs to come up with a long term vision for a low carbon strategy

09:56 64 per cent of the Asean digital economy is e-commerce

13:20 In a world of so much uncertainty, middle powers - which is Asean - can keep things moving 

Produced by: Nirmal Ghosh ([email protected]), Ernest Luis, Eden Soh and Fa’izah Sani

Edited by: Fa’izah Sani

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