Leaders of Southeast Asian nations gathered in Cebu, the Philippines, for their annual ASEAN summit to focus on mitigating the economic and humanitarian fallout from the ongoing war in the Middle East.
The conflict between Iran and its regional adversaries, and retaliatory actions that have followed, have disrupted global energy markets. Southeast Asia is particularly exposed because many countries rely on oil and LNG shipments transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which the summit coverage said has been blockaded by both Iran and the US for weeks. Those disruptions have pushed up fuel and electricity costs, raised fertilizer prices and lifted jet fuel prices, which in turn has made air travel more expensive and dented tourism demand across the region.
Opening the summit, Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who is chairing ASEAN this year, urged a collective response to protect the region’s energy supplies. “We must ensure regional energy security and resilience,” he said, calling for unity, flexibility and practical measures to preserve a stable energy supply and improve regional interconnectivity.
The Philippines, which declared an energy emergency after the conflict began, is pressing for an ASEAN-wide oil-sharing mechanism. A draft joint declaration circulating among leaders recommends emergency fuel-sharing arrangements alongside longer-term contingency measures, including plans for a regional power grid, diversifying crude suppliers, accelerating electric vehicle adoption, and expanding renewables and civilian nuclear energy.
ASEAN economic ministers met ahead of the leaders’ summit and said they had identified “practical, concrete response measures” to secure energy and food supplies, though details were not released. Leaders also discussed evacuation plans for Southeast Asian nationals in the Gulf: more than 1 million people from the region live and work in the Middle East, and some have been killed since the conflict escalated in late February.
Beyond the Iran war’s economic effects, the summit addressed enduring regional security issues. Leaders reviewed territorial tensions in the South China Sea and renewed efforts to complete a substantive Code of Conduct with China after years of negotiations. The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam—each with competing claims—were among those pushing for progress on maritime rules to reduce confrontations at sea.
The leaders also tackled other flashpoints: the five-year civil war in Myanmar and the recent border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia. Marcos said he had urged the two neighbors to resume talks to reinforce a fragile ceasefire, and both sides agreed to return to negotiations.
On Myanmar, ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to hold a virtual meeting with representatives from the country as part of efforts to restore engagement. Since the 2021 coup, ASEAN has barred Myanmar’s junta leaders from participating in summits, and member states remain divided: some, including Thailand, favor renewed engagement with the junta, while others—Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia among them—want stronger condemnation of the overthrow of the democratically elected government and its subsequent repression.
The summit’s outcome was expected to include a separate leaders’ statement on maritime issues reaffirming a commitment to conclude an effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, plus joint pledges on energy and food security. Delegates signaled a growing willingness across ASEAN to pursue both immediate, practical measures—such as fuel sharing and evacuation planning—and longer-term structural changes, notably diversification of energy sources and greater investment in renewables and cross-border infrastructure, to reduce vulnerability to future external shocks.