The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
FROM students studying at night to hospitals keeping critical equipment running, the Philippines called on ASEAN to ensure that the region’s energy cooperation delivers where it matters most, reliable and secure energy for its people.
Energy Secretary Sharon S. Garin made the call as ASEAN Energy Ministers, business leaders, development partners, and international organizations gathered in Manila for the joint opening of the 44th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM) and its Associated Meetings and the ASEAN Energy Business Forum (AEBF).
Garin said the global energy crisis has tested ASEAN nations throughout the year, with rapidly shifting prices and shipping routes forcing governments to respond quickly and mobilize resources to cushion the impact of fuel disruptions.
“Prices shifted quickly, shipping routes changed, governments made decisions in days or hours that would ordinarily take months, and unplanned government spending had to be disbursed to soften the impact of fuel disruptions on families, households, livelihoods, and the economy,” Garin added,
Against these pressures, the Energy Secretary said ASEAN has demonstrated the value of regional cooperation and the strength Member States draw from supporting one another.
“I see an ASEAN growing more capable each year, meeting its own needs on firm footing laid by diplomacy. The world’s markets will always be part of our story, but each Member State is made stronger by belonging to a community of nations that look out for one another. Truly, Southeast Asia is stronger together,” she said.
Garin pointed to the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) as a concrete example of how regional cooperation can strengthen ASEAN’s energy systems.
ASEAN Member States are working to operationalize the Enhanced Memorandum of Understanding on the APG and advance multilateral power trade, while regional interconnection initiatives such as the Lao PDR–Thailand–Malaysia–Singapore Power Integration Project and the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines
Power Interconnection Project continue to move forward.
The Secretary underscored the human impact that greater regional power connectivity can ultimately deliver.
“I look forward to the day when throughout ASEAN, hydropower from one neighbor’s mountains lights a hospital across the border, or during the day when solar power from one island energizes the house of a neighbor’s economy so children can study at night. Every interconnection brings that day closer,” she said.
On oil and gas, Garin highlighted the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Petroleum Security (APSA) as a shared framework for regional cooperation and mutual support.
She said discussions during the Special AMEM in April brought renewed momentum to APSA, which will help strengthen ASEAN’s collective ability to respond to energy challenges.
“APSA is not just an agreement. It is a manifestation that as a community, ASEAN economies, collectively and individually, are willing to protect, support, and help each other in good and difficult times,” she said.
The Secretary also emphasized the significance of bringing Ministers and business leaders together as AMEM and AEBF opened in Manila.
As host, the Philippines expressed hope that the discussions in Manila would strengthen cooperation and bring the benefits of ASEAN’s energy agenda closer to the region’s people.