President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged fellow Southeast Asian leaders Tuesday to reassess their trade strategies amid ongoing shifts in the global economic landscape, emphasizing the need to turn challenges into opportunities through stronger regional cooperation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Marcos said the region must carefully examine emerging trends in global trade to determine whether these pose risks or open up new avenues for growth.
“What we have to do is to identify what those changes are going to be. Is it damaging? Or is it to our advantage? Or is it something that we can maximize?” the President told Manila-based reporters in an interview.
The President emphasized that ASEAN must remain agile and united in adapting to evolving trade dynamics, noting that while the global environment continues to shift, the region’s collective strength lies in its internal partnerships.
“If we can’t sell to these markets anymore, then let’s sell to each other’s markets,” he said. “The best, most solid way forward is to be a reliable partner for each other in ASEAN.”
Marcos also talked about the growing cooperation between ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), describing it as a promising development.
He welcomed the inclusion of a GCC-China-ASEAN trilateral dialogue, calling it a “very, very good idea” that could potentially form a powerful new economic bloc.
The President noted that if they “come to a good arrangement,” this proposed new economic bloc can rival other global trade partnerships.
