LAOS Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith was in Singapore on Thursday (Dec 7) to share more about his country’s priorities as it gears up to chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in January.

The 55-year-old delivered a lecture at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute on Laos’ plans as Asean chair, having picked up the baton from Indonesia at a time of major power rivalry, climate change, as well as economic and supply chain disruptions.

Since formally joining Asean in 1997, Laos has chaired the regional bloc twice – in 2004 and 2016.

Top priorities

Laos has adopted the theme of enhancing connectivity and resilience. In his speech in Singapore, Saleumxay listed a number of priorities, which he stressed would only be finalised at the next Foreign Ministers’ retreat in Luang Prabang in January.

The priority areas are: integrating and connecting economies; forging an inclusive and sustainable future; transforming for the digital future; promoting the role of Asean culture and the arts for inclusion and sustainability; development of strategic plans to implement the Asean Community Vision 2045; promoting Asean centrality; promoting environmental cooperation; women and children; and health.

Myanmar crisis

The ongoing crisis in Myanmar – which the last three Asean chairs Brunei, Cambodia and Indonesia have grappled with – remains a challenge that shows no signs of easing just yet.

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Saleumxay made the point that the conflict was not likely to be resolved under Laos’ year-long chairmanship.

“All Asean foreign ministers share the view that it’s an ongoing process. We have to understand Myanmar historically, culturally, and the current situations, otherwise we will not be able to address (it),” he said. “We will stick to the full effective implementation of the five-point consensus, which was adopted by Asean leaders.”

The five-point consensus refers to a peace plan drawn up by Asean leaders and Myanmar’s military in April 2021 that called for an immediate end to violence; dialogue among stakeholders; the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate mediation; the provision of humanitarian aid; and visits by an Asean delegation to Myanmar to meet stakeholders. The progress, however, has been sluggish so far.

At the last Asean Summit held in Jakarta in September, the bloc’s leaders agreed to set up a troika of the immediate past, current and upcoming chairs – Indonesia, Laos, and Malaysia – to lead Asean in tackling the Myanmar crisis.

Giving his views on the troika, Saleumxay said: “The principle behind the Asean troika is we want to ensure continuation because we have adopted the fact that the Myanmar issue will not be resolved in the next two years... We want the good work that has been done by the previous chair to be continued and carried on with the next chair.”

He also acknowledged that such a mechanism would relieve some of the burden on Laos.

“It would be a miracle if during the Lao chairmanship, the issue of Myanmar is resolved, so we would expect Malaysia to carry on,” he said.

He added that Laos is in the process of appointing a special envoy to take the lead in addressing the Myanmar issue.

South China Sea dispute

Indonesia had previously pledged to speed up talks with China and other South-east Asian countries to finalise a code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea, a longstanding flashpoint in the region.

In July, Indonesia concluded the second reading of the negotiating text and set out guidelines to speed up talks.

Whether Laos can steer Asean towards further negotiations remains to be seen. Analysts believe China’s growing influence in Laos muddies the waters.

Saleumxay said: “We have to build on the momentum established by the working group on COC. I think there is ongoing progress in terms of negotiations on the COC draft; the third wording is already completed.”

He added: “I believe that next year, with all the support and cooperation by all Asean member states and its external partners, we will be able to go through this.

Timor-Leste’s membership

At the Asean Summit in Cambodia in 2022, Timor-Leste was admitted in principle as the 11th member of Asean and granted observer status. To gain full membership, Asia’s youngest democracy still has several agreements to accede to.

Saleumxay welcomed Timor-Leste’s upgraded status to an observer, and said that Laos looks forward to its early accession to Asean.

He said: “Laos is one of the countries that has been supportive of membership of Timor-Leste from the beginning and we are working hard. All members of Asean are resolved to help Timor-Leste to become a full-fledged member of Asean as soon as possible.”

Saleumxay also emphasised Asean unity as a bedrock.

He said: “One of the principles that helped Asean become a successful organisation and be relevant and attractive to external partners is its unity… So Asean will stick together and Laos will continue (in) that same vein in 2024.”