Lecture Abstract

Indonesia will assume the ASEAN chairmanship in December 2022. During this year-long presidency, Indonesia is expected to address many outstanding issues affecting the 10-member Southeast Asian nations grouping as it celebrates its 55th anniversary. This includes the emerging US-China geopolitical competition, newly established regional associations like The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) many feared may compete with ASEAN’s role as the region’s leading security and economic partnership organisation, and the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar that is still unresolved today.

As it assumes the ASEAN chairmanship, how could Indonesia ensure that all ASEAN members reach a consensus on pressing global and regional issues, such as the new Asian landscape in the midst of the renewed geopolitical competition, humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, post-pandemic recovery, energy and food security, and global climate change? More importantly, could Indonesia leverage its ‘active and free’ (bebas aktif) foreign policy from other ASEAN member nations to resolve these problems, notwithstanding their differing views on how the regional security and economic landscape should be shaped?

In his lecture, Mr Airlangga will speak about Indonesia’s initiatives as the forthcoming ASEAN Chair to move a new agenda for ASEAN to resolve relevant issues mentioned above. He will also discuss the various ways by which Indonesia and Singapore – as two ASEAN founding members – may work together to persuade other ASEAN members to reach a consensus on these pressing global and regional issues.

About the Speaker

Airlangga Hartarto is currently the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs for the Republic of Indonesia. He holds the post since the start of President Joko Widodo’s second-term cabinet, which came into being on 23 October 2019. Previously, he served as Minister of Industry from 2016 to 2019 in President Widodo’s first-term cabinet. He also served as Co-Chair of Indonesia’s COVID-19 mitigation task force. In addition to these government positions, Mr Airlangga is also the General Chairman of the Golkar Party (2017-present).

Mr Airlangga received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Gadjah Mada University in 1987. He later received a master’s degree in business administration from Monash University and a master’s degree in management technology from the University of Melbourne. In 2019, he received an honorary doctorate in development policy from the School of Policy Management, Korea Development Institute (KDI), South Korea.