DM Monitoring
ISTANBUL: Turkey is paying more attention to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and seeking to enhance its relations with Southeast Asia amid the economic challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, experts said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu recently met with the Southeast Asian ambassadors in the capital Ankara and underlined the importance of enhancing relations with the ASEAN countries as part of Turkey’s Asia Anew initiative.
“We pay special attention to our relations with ASEAN, within the framework of Asia Anew,” Cavusoglu said, referring to an initiative launched in 2019.
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are the 10 members of the ASEAN group. Ankara hopes to diversify ties with these countries in the fields of education, defense, trade, technology, culture, and political dialogue, according to Cavusoglu.
Turkey had been already experiencing economic duress before the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic hit growth and spurred high inflation and unemployment amid a weakening currency, a widening current account deficit, and faltering foreign direct investment. In the last decade, Turkey has been seeking to diversify its trade and political relations with different parts of the world other than its traditional Western commercial partners and allies.
The European Union and the United States are among Turkey’s largest economic partners, and the EU is a principal source of investments in Turkey.
Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, said while Ankara’s willingness to open more toward Southeast Asian nations is praiseworthy, it should undertake a more comprehensive approach.
“Turkey’s goal should be to develop a sustainable relationship with ASEAN nations based on a reliable road map and improve the business networks it has established in the last decade with this organization,” Colakoglu added. Regarding the business front, Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) chairman Nail Olpak said his organization established an ASEAN working group to increase and balance the trade with the countries of the region.
