The war in Ukraine has weakened multilateralism and has the potential to divide relations between countries.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the Ukraine war had worsened the world economy and created a humanitarian tragedy. Therefore, Jokowi called for the war in Ukraine to be stopped.
Jokowi stated this at the ASEAN-United States (ASEAN-US) Special Summit which was held at the US Department of Foreign Affairs, Washington DC, Friday (13/5).
Jokowi said the war had fueled rising food, energy and inflation prices. This burdens the economy and slows the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing and least developed countries.
"For some ASEAN members, a 10% increase in oil prices will result in a 0.7% decrease in national income and an increase in wheat prices will result in a 1% increase in poverty," the president explained.
On the other hand, economic growth, according to Jokowi, is also concerning. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its forecast for economic growth in emerging and developing Asia by 0.5% in 2022 and 0.2% in 2023.
Then, the World Bank lowered its economic growth predictions for several ASEAN countries to 1.2%.
“While the world should quickly recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is facing a new problem, the war in Ukraine. When the world needs cooperation and collaboration, the rivalry and confrontation are getting sharper. When the world needs multilateralism that is getting stronger, it is unilateralism that is getting more and more prominent," said Jokowi.
The president also said the war in Ukraine has weakened multilateralism and has the potential to divide relations between countries.
“War won't benefit anyone. The world has no other choice but to stop the war right now. Every country, every leader has the responsibility to create an enabling environment so that war can be stopped, peace can be realized," said the President as quoted from the press release of the Presidential Secretariat, Saturday (14/5).
The President emphasized that for more than five decades, ASEAN has continued to build an inclusive security architecture, prioritizing the collaboration paradigm, encouraging a habit of dialogue and rules based orders. We encourage the same spirit in the Indo-Pacific through the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
At the Special Summit which was attended by the President of the United States Joe Biden and also the leaders of the ASEAN countries, President Jokowi welcomed America's initiative through the Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).
“Of course, cooperation under IPEF must be inclusive. I hope the synergy between IPEF and the implementation of priority cooperation in AOIP (ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific)," said Jokowi. (Setpres, Antara)
