Meeting the moment: ASEAN’s integration challenge

As ASEAN nears its 60th anniversary, the predictability of its earlier decades is giving way to a more fragmented, multipolar world. Countries are balancing economic efficiency with security and strategic autonomy. Supply chains, investment, and partnerships are diversifying across more markets, creating new opportunities even as geopolitical competition complicates global trade. Amid this volatility and an energy shock from conflict in the Middle East, ASEAN has big integration plans. The ASEAN Power Grid needs nearly US$800 billion by 2045, and DEFA, its first region-wide digital economy agreement, is due to be signed this month. Two regional leaders discuss what this moment demands.