Join Davos 2026's discussion on how ASEAN can strengthen economic cooperation, modernize infrastructure, and leverage digital transformation to compete globally.
ASEAN’s leaders and business voices argued in Davos that the region’s pace must be judged not only by speed, but by inclusivity, resilience, and the ability to convert disruption into advantage. Thailand’s deputy prime minister framed three “mega shifts”—geopolitical fragmentation, AI transformation, and the green transition—contending that as multilateralism weakens, “regionalism… will be more important.” He urged ASEAN to build shared digital infrastructure in three layers: common foundations (digital ID and signatures), interoperable governance (data rules and APIs), and shared services (payments, health records, logistics, and ASEAN-based e-commerce) so gains accrue locally rather than to external platforms.
ADB President Masato Kanda called the current moment a “tremendous change” but “a great opportunity,” prioritizing stronger domestic engines, human capital, and regional connectivity. He highlighted the ASEAN Power Grid as “transformational,” requiring $100 billion over 20 years, with ADB ready to commit up to $10 billion while brokering complex multilateral coordination.
Indonesia’s digital minister stressed that “fastness” must include diffusion to 700 million people and skills for a demographic dividend, pointing to the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement as an “operating system” for interoperability. WIPO’s Daren Tang cited rising unicorns, R&D and IP filings, arguing “ASEAN… is doing very well,” and pushing IP commercialization and IP-backed finance for SMEs. Zurich’s Tulsi Naidu reframed the challenge as “the quality of growth,” warning of climate and cyber risks and urging “resilience by design.” Neutrality, panelists argued, preserves access to capital and technology in a fractured world.
Good morning everyone. Thank you so much for being here on this panel to listen to us, despite the many other things happening here at the Congress Center. I'm going to introduce our panel very briefly, and then I'll get into the crux of the topic today. Going from this side, DPM from Thailand, Mr. Masato, the president of ADB, Tulsi Naidu from Zurich Insurance, Insurance, and Darren Tang, the director general of Ypo. We have another minister coming very soon, and she'll join us as soon as she can. Firstly, I also like to introduce myself. I'm Jamie Hoad, editor of The Straits Times. Thank you for having me here. My colleagues at the forum, and I must congratulate them on framing the question ahead of us today. Is Asean moving fast enough? And obviously embedded in that question is a little suggestion quite mischievous, but quite good, that Asean may not be moving fast enough, but maybe the panel here will help address that question. So I'll start with DPM. Yes, if you may. From your perspective, both Thailand and as a member, key member of Asean. Yes. Run us through your thoughts in terms of your own, aspirations for Asean and Thailand. Is it moving fast enough? Where is it moving fast enough and where can it do better?
Yeah, I think, to answer your question, whether we are moving fast enough, depending on how we harness the shift that we have seen during the past three days, I think we clearly see three messages. The first makeup shift is new geopolitics, new world order. The multilateralism is breaking down. So regionalism, I think, will be more important. The second one is the AI transformations. We have seen AI moving fast enough, how we can make AI transformations more inclusive, and more governance so that we can protect low income people. And the third one about the climate change and clean economies. We will we have seen some countries retract from the commitment, but most of the countries, I believe, still believe in the commitment for carbon neutrality, how we can address it, how Asean harness these mega shifts that will be important. So in my opinion, the first one, new world order, new geopolitics, I think it will be very important for us to work together because multilateral system is declining. You can see that the beauty all is declining. So regionalism, intra regional trade after APEC, Asean Economic Community will be stronger and will be more important if we can harness that benefits. So that will be very important. I have seen a lot of investors during the past three days. What I can feel is that they consider Asean as a safer place for trade and investment, because we can trade to many countries. We are very neutral in terms of trade and investment, but we need to move closer. We have to work closer. That's very important if we can work together, if we can work closer based on the foundations that we have, like intra regional trade, we can be stronger and use Asean as a springboard to to grow to many other regions, not just trade among each other. That will be important message to handle and to harness the first shift of New World Order. The second one, which I would like to focus on, is the digital infrastructures will be very important to harness the AI transformations in many dimensions. I think in Asean, if we want to move faster than what we expect, we need to lay down foundations. We already have foundations for, road networks, transportation networks, power networks, but not digital networks. So we need to focus more on laying down foundations for digital infrastructures. I would like to highlight on these areas because we are still lagging behind. I think on digital infrastructures there are three layers. The first layer is the foundations. We need to share foundations for digital ID for digital signatures. If we don't share digital ID digital signatures, we cannot take the benefit of growing AI and growing digital transformations. So we need to have foundation for that. That's the first layer. The second layer is the chair framework. How we can, have data and digital governance. We have to work together how we have application programming interface so that we can share information, among other things. We cannot do it on our own. If we want to grow faster, we have to work together. That's the second layer. And the third layer is related to shared service. I think there will be three capital S for digital infrastructures Share Foundation, digital ID, share foundation for digital payment. We have like with Singapore's Plum pay and Pay. Now we have to expand that to our ASEAN's so that finance can facilitate trade and digital. Second is I repeat it again chair, Infrastructures and Framework for Digital and Data Governance. Lastly on shared services, which will be very important if let's imagine if we have shared service like share for health record. Definitely based on the second layer, to have foundations for data governance, we may have people in Timor-Leste who can use the better medical service in Thailand or in Singapore on telehealth. That will make digital more inclusive. We can have shared, logistics and share e-commerce, SMEs in Thailand, SMEs in Vietnam, SMEs in Malaysia can share service. Now we have the platform from outside Asean. All benefits go to other countries outside Asean. How can we make that shared services for Asean e-commerce share system share payments so that small SMEs in Thailand can enter the market for Indonesia? Similarly, we have to open the markets for Indonesia. Who would like to buy, Thai products. So that's the way that we will grow together. So and we have a number of shared services architects, we have better agricultural technologies in Singapore. We have better architects in Thailand. We are very good in pet foods. You are very good in, you know, other types of foods we can share so that we can grow together. On the last part about the mega shift on the green economy, even though what I said, some countries are retracting from, from from commitments for carbon neutrality and net zero. But most countries in the world still commit to it. So there's a lot of opportunities for green transitions and green economies if we can work together. Asean Power grid for green energy like what we have done together, we get hydro power from Laos to Thailand to Malaysia to Singapore. Then people in Asean can get clean energies for their productions and their services, and it's cheaper. So that's the way to work together. More importantly, how we can make green transitions to the low income people if we develop only Asean power grid for clean energy, for large businesses, people will not change. We have to go down to deep down to people. That's why in Thailand we have the sandbox called model, where public, government, private sectors like in Thailand they develop green cement from SCG communities like people on the ground, setting solar and sell power, clean power to businesses. They earn income and they get carbon credits. They earn income so they can change behavior. We need to make green transitions going down to people for us and people that will make green transition more inclusive. That's the way I look at how we can grow faster.
Thank you. Thank you very much. DPM. You you must have seen some of my notes because I'm glad you raised some of the topics that I was going to make sure I asked you, at the end of this panel, but you raised many good points. And as I said, and let me reiterate as well, not only as you raised questions in my head for the floor, if you do have questions, I do hope to, set aside as much time as possible at the end, for them to address questions. I'm going to turn to you now to, to react to the DPM. But also, I know you are a very firm fan of Asean, so please give us your perspective. Firstly, on on on whether we are moving fast enough or not. And DPM raised many issues about digital transformation. And I know you have a view on digital transformation, AI and innovation. Tell us your view on that and how ADB finds, its way to help us along the way.
Yeah, thank you very much. This is a great opportunity for me to share my humble thoughts. And so probably I will start with a rather general observation, followed by some comments on a great presentation. Thank you. The, you know, Asean countries has been the world's most trade driven, trade dependent region, and the trade has been the cornerstone of growth, industrialization and integration into the global economy. Actually, the global value chain created 75 million jobs in the region. And now, as you mentioned, this, you know, collapse of the international order or the heightened geopolitical tension, and more economically, the fragmented supply chain and higher and more certain tariffs, you know, has posed a problem. Obviously, the Asean business model of trade at the moment, Asean countries has shown the sum of the resilience thanks to their domestic consumption and investment and also the, you know, the regional collaboration, connectivity. But this enormous transformation in the global landscape is posing definitely the unprecedented challenges to Asean countries. Is this is really, one thing centuries, the big industrial revolution, which affects the whole regime of the human society, but at least the I mean, the multilateral organization. So this is probably first, in at least since the 1944 or 1945, a tremendous change. But but I believe this is a great opportunity for Asean. You know, the uncertainty risk is also the great opportunities. So we've got to turn these challenges into the opportunities for Asean to be stronger. This is what I told the, all of the leaders of Asean. And also I believe they agreed. And the ADB is committed to support this transition. And three things, among others. One is, of course, we need create a more robust domestic economy by deregulation or the quality infrastructure, strengthening the human capital through the education and, vocational training. You mentioned the AI. Definitely we need to upgrade and most importantly, the further strengthening regional connectivity and cooperation. Now, there are lots of opportunities and ADB can support this great enterprise as they are long term financial and the mobilizer of the private capital and the, you know, honest broker or trusted partner to create the platform for the regional integration, which I will refer to. APG you rightly suggested, there are many things we can do. And responding to your, you know, presentations, all of them are quite relevant from my perspective. Thank you for raising this. So geopolitical of course this is really most annoying things. And I believe, you know, the regional connectivity and more diversification of your or industry and trade partners and supply chain will be the best protection against these external shocks. And, you know, of course it is good for climate also. But I believe APG in Asean Power Grid is really transformational. You know, supplying the to the 680 million people, the sustainable, stable, affordable energy. It is really, you know, necessity for the region to survive and prosper. It it needs $100 billion for 20 years from our calculation. And ADB is already, you know, ready to commit up to $10 billion for decades. But, you know, not just the financial, you know, challenges, but we need the, you know, more partnership amongst the, you know, the actors. And we have a very good advance, made a great progress last, fall. You know, the the new MOU is really, you know, already shifting from the ad hoc transaction, bilateral transaction to the multilateral platform, which is really great because it is really complicated, projects very much complicated, including the some, you know, even diplomatic issue, not only the technological harmonization is but again, ADB can support your initiative. You know, as honest broker and technological advisor and financial mobilizer. So, and if we succeed in APG, we can demonstrate how we can transform this, you know, international community, human society, when you know, the greater ambition, institutions, policies and finance moved together. So I'm very much excited. And as for AI, this is another Hedwig and opportunities. This is a great opportunity for the productivity growth and the social inclusion. But at the same time, this is a great risk for the society. You know, potential, you know, more inequality and cyber security issues. There are many things. And I promise the, 2026 Asean chair, the President Marcos of the Philippines, with my full support to, Asean chair. But he, you know, emphasizes the issues of AI. You know, even to me, it is not so easy. But for instance, there are job replacement is really headache. My home country, Japan, Korea, China are facing the, you know, the aging and decreasing. But for the Philippines, Indonesia and many countries in Asean are embracing the demographic dividend. But if you can't give the younger population the good job, probably it is not only, you know, but for ethical reasons, but it creates a huge, you know, you know, social instability already. We've seen in the, you know, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Nepal and all over the world, including almost all of the advanced countries now facing the social instability and the polarization. This is really difficult. And to some extent, this is the employment problems and the particularly for the middle class. So we are very much conscious about this risk. And ADB is really committed to help you. Thank you very much indeed.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Masato San. I'm going to take 30s to recap just for minister who's to to who has just joined us. Thank you very much. Right on time. We we have started with the premise of questioning whether Asean can move faster in various areas. And the DPM gave us a very good recap of the three main areas that he thought Asean could do better on. The second area was on that he mentioned was on digital development, digital infrastructure, AI innovation that he thought could do more on. So perfect for you to jump in as well. To give us your perspective as Minister for Communications and Digital Affairs, how you see ASEAN's current pace in terms of its transformation on the digital space of things, and where you see Indonesia playing a role, obviously, Indonesia has a very big role to play in this space. But give us your perspective.
Yes. Thank you. Jamie, sorry for the delay. And, when asked whether Asean is moving fast enough, then I think we first have to decide on how do you, categorize fast? Are you looking at the, adoption rate of, technology or AI? Are you looking at the digital economy magnitudes or for us in Indonesia? And, I think most part of Asean really also look at fastness with, looking at how fast we can diffuse the technology, especially to our 700 million population. So Indonesia alone, is 280 million compromised. We comprise of, 17,000 more islands. And that's already a big challenge. How to diffuse, how to make it more available for everyone. So I think inclusivity is also an important part when talking about fastness and readiness. And also, Mr. President of ADB just mentioned one thing that is also very important. How fast can we teach? Can we liberate our people, especially the young ones? Again, in Asean we are a region in which, demographic bonus is quite huge. And of course a bonus is only a bonus when they are skilled. So again, I think we really look at that. We know that we have to go faster, but at the same time, how do we regulate is also, one thing that we need to to consider when speaking about fastness or not. And that's why Asean, is finalizing on our day for which is the digital, economic framework for Asean. And we believe that this can bring us faster, it will not only serve as a trade agreement between Asean countries, but it will serve also as operating system in which interoperability between Asean countries will be much higher. For example, in Indonesia, the more common example that, can be also, you know, experienced by our neighbors is our digital payment, which is, Chris, that's already interoperable within Thailand, Malaysia and other countries. And likewise the digital payment from other Asean countries. So I think, by uniting, by aligning, you know, principles or regulations, we can get, Asean to be more, you know, competitive to other parts of the world.
Thank you very much. Darren, I know, I know, you're one of the biggest champions for Asean from from your perch at Ypo. I mean, the comments that we've heard from, the DPM and the minister, obviously the whole point of it is to raise challenges that we have to face as Asean going forward. But you also sit in different places in that you have first sight of the kind of innovations and what already Asean has achieved and has the potential to do even better on. So tell us what you what you see from Ypo, and really where the gaps may be. But at the same time, I'm sure you see a lot more that, common man may not see in terms of how fast we are already going.
Thank you so much, Jimmy. Let me start with a happy confession. I, I I'm taking care of 134 member states as the head of a UN agency. Ypo is a UN agency for intellectual property, innovation and creativity. But I'm a Singaporean, so I'm a proud son of Asean. And so what I will share with you today comes from my experience, not just as Ypo DG, but also as Asean National and also in my past experience as a Singapore government official working on Asean agreements, working on Asean matters as a trade negotiator. And let me start by saying that I think, Asean is really at the forefront of a lot of the IP innovation developments. I know we Asean and I say we Asean because I am proud to be Asean. We always want to be faster and we always want to coordinate more. But I really seen in the last few years a real transformation in the innovation landscape. Asean, let me share with you some data to back that up. First, Asean as a emerging economy region has one of the highest numbers of unicorns in the world. I think the total Asean region is about 45 to 50 unicorns, and it's not easy to find in a in an emerging region, right? That number of unicorns. ASEAN's R&D expenditure has grown by an average of 8.5% compounded annual growth rate. And right now, Asean expenditure on R&D has reached 60 billion USD. So it's not small. ASEAN's creative economy is also beginning to take off because as Asean nationals and countries get more confident in their culture, they're beginning to export the culture overseas. DPM, Thai food is found everywhere. So congratulations. Thailand led the way on this, but we talk about movies and films. Indonesia. Jumbo. Yes, it's become the top highest grossing Asean film. I think jumbo now has grossed 10,000,010 million USD. Thailand has a collaboration with South Korea on. And of course, it's a horror film because Thailand is the best at that. I think I forgot the name, but it's grossed about almost 10 million as well. And Malaysia's animated film called Mikamoto two years ago won, Best Anime non-Japanese anime at the International Anime Festival in Tokyo. So we're talking about a region that's no longer just about natural resources, about commodities, about tourism infrastructure, but also about entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, about the digital economy, about the creative economy. And that means that Asean IP filings are growing. Patent filings have grown by 70%, trademark filings have grown by 110% in ten years. Design filings have grown by 80%. So on all the metrics that Ypo measures, Asean economies and Asean region as a whole is doing very well. And in fact, six of the ten Asean countries. I think we have to add Timor-Leste quite soon. But six of the of the Asean countries are in the top 60 of Ypo Global Innovation Index, where we rank the innovation performance of 140 countries. And Indonesia is one of the fastest risers. And Vietnam also is doing really well. So across the whole region, whether you're looking at the core Asean, the original members, but even those that have joined us, Clmv, as we call them, everyone is doing well. And that means that. And why? Why is why is this happening is because Asean member states and I say this as someone who used to do trade policy trade negotiations, historically, Asean member states have looked at intellectual property as something they have to do well to attract foreign investment so that they can be welcoming foreign IP into Asean. So Asean was a consumer of IP. Asean consumer foreign brands, consume foreign technology, consume foreign designs, consume foreign content. But that's changing. Asean now sees IP as part of its growth and development journey. Why? Because Asean is becoming a place where Asean innovators are creating. They're inventing. They're innovating. They are daring to take their ideas and take it to the market. So one very concrete example of how our agenda with Asean at Ypo is very forward looking is that three years ago in Semarang, when Indonesia was hosting, was Asean chair, we signed an MoU with the Asean Secretariat, and the MOU is a very forward looking MoU, not just dealing with IP protection and enforcement and registration, which is a traditional IP agenda, and the basic IP agenda, but focusing on very cutting edge IP issues like IP commercialization, IP valuation, how to make use of IP as a financial asset so that IP can be brought to the bank and collateralized, and in fact, we and then how is IP a business asset that helps both big Asean companies like Krung Thai Bank or CP Group, or, you know, or your realty group or or DBS, right. Use IP, but even your SMEs and your startups. So very inclusive vision of IP. So the focus on MOU is on the creative economy, the digital economy, small medium enterprises and startups, as well as IP financing and valuation and no other MoU do we have with any other regional platform has this sort of cutting edge, agenda. And in fact, we position ASEAN's our relationship Asean as a model for other regions, right. Who want to go beyond IP protection, IP enforcement and are looking at IP beyond the legal perspective and looking at IP from a development perspective, from a business perspective, economic trade finance perspective. And because, of the energy that we have from Asean and because of our strong bilateral relationship with Asean as well as the regional relationship, we've been implementing the MOU in a very energetic way. So in the last three years, we have trained 6000 SMEs in Asean from all the countries. We are from a courses that are more academic. But the revolution has been mentoring Asean entrepreneurs to use IP as part of their business journey. We are also developing piloting programs in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore to use IP as collateral. I was just missing in, Krung Thai Bank last year when I visited Bangkok, and we are seeing how we can help Krung Thai Bank to, to accept IPOs collateral so that it can give loans to Thai SMEs. We just launched a similar, initiative in Malaysia. Indonesia just passed a regulation, regulation six, where as part of your microfinancing initiatives, you're going to accept IP as collateral. Which is which is not common in the world, by the way. So I'm talking about practices which are really, really quite exciting, you know, things which are no longer on paper as theory, but things which are practicing and piloting in Asean region. Looking ahead, I think, as DPM has said of Thailand, with the with the global political situation, regional platforms have become even more important. So Ypo is going to work even more closely with our secretariat, with the Asean working Group on IP cooperation, which is a gathering of all the Asean IP stakeholders. To drive this even deeper, we are right now working to develop the Asean IP Action Plan 2026 to 2030. And then there's a vision 2046, which Malaysia was pushing last year. And the vision really is to put IP innovation and creativity at the heart of Asean. And I'm confident with with relative peace as a region with the economic vibrancy. Minister, you mentioned 700 million people, but not 700 million people who are who are just passive. But but entrepreneurs, you know, creators, innovators, with, with a, you know, with diversity as our strength. I think Asean will will continue to do. And let me just finish by sharing an anecdote. When I was when I was at Singapore official, I was involved in the Asean, EU FTA. This was in 2006 or 2007. Around that time, Vietnam was chairing it. And I remember that we had a lot of internal discussions. Should Asean follow the EU model of more integrated, of of of having a centralized set of rules and regulations? And we decided that maybe for Asean, there's a much more diverse region. It's better to have a looser arrangement. And I think that's worked out very well for us, because I think we're in a very different place from where we were 15 years ago. If we look at the European, system right now, their method of integration also poses challenges, new types of challenges. I hope they will overcome those challenges. But I think that for Asean, right, our diversity is our strength. We are all very different as Asean member states. But I think the way we work together, which gives a lot more space to interoperability rather than forcing harmonisation, can also be a source of strength for us. So I just want to share some good news. So as one of my, one of my mentors said, fast is slow and slow is fast. And if you figure out what that means, thank you very much. Yeah.
Thank you so much, Darren. I think this is a perfect segue, because before I turn over the floor, questions and I'm sure there will be, we've heard quite a amazingly diverse set of views here, Tulsi. So, you will add to it from your private sector perspective, sitting from the perch of Zurich Insurance. Tell us what your view is, of Asean. And where do you stand when you hear this range of views?
First of all, thank you for the range of comments, and I'm delighted to present the private sector perspective on this. And maybe I make my comments in three parts. One, just to give you a sense of context of where I come from and the perspective we bring. Second, how we think about Asean as an operator and as an investor in Asean. And third, this question about growth and are we going fast enough? And the issues around that? If I give you a bit of context about where we come from as a group, we're one of the world's largest insurance groups. We operate in 200 countries, 80 billion in premiums across the world. What we do, we're in the business of taking risk. We're in the business of creating resilience, whether that is in people's lives, whether it's in families lives, whether it's for small businesses, large businesses, and therefore the economy as a whole. We create the capacity for people to have the confidence to invest. We operate. We are a service business that started in Europe, is now 60% in American business and has an increasing focus and growth in Asia and Latin America. And so we have tracked the progress of the world economy over the last 150 years of our existence. I personally am based in Singapore. I have worked in London and I the the joy I get out of working with our Asean businesses the entrepreneurship, the innovation, the determination probably frames my thoughts on this. So that's the context I come from. If I think about Asean at this time as as honourable minister said, this is a time of profound geopolitical transition. The settled order, settled views on the world order are in question. Tariffs are at the highest rates since the 1940s. Asean, in that context, provides a compelling growth opportunity. Actually, the most interesting thing, I think, has been the resilience over the last year. So if I went back a year ago, almost to this date, we did an analysis of what we expected the vulnerability would be to the potential of tariffs. And actually, as we all know, Asean economies have been considerably more resilient than any of the scenario planning on wargaming we might have done at the time. We look out at the prospect of Asean being the fourth largest economy in the world in by 2030. We look at as honorable minister said, 600 million people, but 200 million young people between the ages of 15 and 34. The entrepreneurship, the dynamism, the innovation, the opportunity that presents is for a company like ours, I think remarkable. The place I'd like to turn attention to, if I may. And the question here is about the pace of growth. I might offer you the question of the quality of growth. And the word that hasn't come into this discussion is around resilience. Asean, and we know this from the events of the last six weeks, eight weeks. Asean is vulnerable, vulnerable in its concentration in its geographies, in its exposure to climate risk, 73 billion of crystallized risk last year was, or losses as a result of climate events were in Asean last year. And so I think, as I look at. One of the reasons I think Asean represents such a apart from the financial and economic aspects that we've talked about, the thing that makes Asean such a compelling opportunity for people like us is the quality and pragmatism of the political leadership, the willingness to collaborate, the interaction with institutions like the ADB and the two areas that I would highlight is topics for us to think about, is building resilience by design. As we think about growth in climate and in the development of the digital, business models, we anticipate the digital economy in Asean will be something of the order of 560 billion by 2030. AI offers a huge opportunity to democratize technology, to deal with long standing issues in healthcare, in agriculture, in primary education. But this needs to be done safely. It needs to be done inclusively. And so both in climate and in cyber, I think the questions around policy making, the interaction with the sources of capital, and then people like us who have the data, who can tell you exactly how risk is going to crystallize under different scenarios, not precisely, but with enough that you understand the costs of and the ability to de-risk. I think that partnership is an integral part of thinking about Asean growth, and I'll leave my comments there. Yeah.
Thank you so much to perfect timing. We have a good amount of time for questions. Otherwise I will have questions on my own. So please, I will open up the floor. But if you will just stand up, introduce yourself, and I think a mic will be brought to you. Yeah, please. If you could stand up as well so that the cameras can.
Hello. I am from Thailand. Thank you for having me here. First of all, we have heard, the President Trump's speech yesterday. Right. And we are facing uncertainties upcoming. And how can us and work together to, to make, sustainable development happen in reality, and especially the role of green finance from now on? Is it real? Is it the is it an important tool to help us to, to go to, to develop to the sustainability? Just that.
Okay, maybe I will, have the two politicians answer that and maybe reframe it a little bit, in that. Exactly. I mean, it's one of the questions that I have to what, what what is Asean going to be doing and how can it, address this new global order that everyone has been talking about for the last three days? What does Asia need to do to accelerate its own regional integration? And as the question said, whether or not we have a view or this panel has a view on the specificities of sustainability. So maybe DPM first and then Minister Meutia.
Yes. I think in a way I consider this as a, opportunities for ASEAN's. I think that's an excellent question. From Monchai because, I think the speech yesterday from the president of United States has warned us that we need to cooperate more because if we don't cooperate more.
Don't work. Yes, sir. In my opinion. So what we have to do. We need to use technologies. Digital technologies. And use the competitiveness of ASEAN's. We have diverse background, and we have huge populations. Almost 700 million people. We are growing together. We have to work together. Set the foundation. Working together. And ASEAN's. To me, maybe it's lucky that we are far away from us and Europe. So not calling attention much, in my opinion. So we can work together closer and we can use Asean as a hub for investment, for trade. And I'm sure that we there's a number of countries want to trade with us. If we work together, they are willing to come to each country individually. Thailand, for example, I'm the chairman of the Board of Investment Boi. Incentive applications last year increased by 93%. I think it's similar to other countries on the table. So I think that's reflects something. But how we can coordinate and make sure that FDI will go into details to SM to supply chains, not just in that country but also in other countries. That's the first response. Also, I like to, highlight the idea of building resiliency. I totally agree with you that we need to build more resilient not only from climate risk, but also from geopolitics and geoeconomics like tariff. Most of us got 19% on the same page. So I think we are comparable. But tariff among us is 0%. So Asean and we also have FTA bilaterally. So Thailand may be slower than other countries like Vietnam. They already got bilateral FTA with Europe and Singapore. We can use Singapore and Vietnam as a springboard to other countries. And similarly you can use Thailand. We have also Thailand, but bilateral FTA with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Japan. You can also use, us as a springboard and we can work together. That's in my opinion. So it warned us that we need to work closer in my opinion.
Thank you very much, Minister. There was a there was several speeches yesterday, one from President Trump, and there was another speech from, Prime Minister Carney as well. And he brought the term middle powers. I'm sure Indonesia is quite a significant middle power. It is the biggest power in Asean. So tell us your perspective in terms of what you can do better in addressing this new world order.
This is actually related to resiliency. So I agree on the resiliency. Word and it's not how fast. It's not how fast. It's the speed but how sustainable is the speed. And in the fragmented world with geopolitics and also fragmented, fragmented in technology, I think the stand of Asean being, a neutral region, giving us more strength, not only collaborative, but making sure that Asean stays neutral because neutrality, gives us access to all, new technology from all parts of the world, investments from all parts of the world, and also give the certainty that, you know, the openness of Asean is always available for all parts of the world. So I think, us in Asean has to make sure on that principle. And it is I think it's, agreed on all Asean countries to stay neutral in that aspect. I think that's the very important key as well.
I forgot to answer his question on green finance. I think it's still important because green finance will be important for green economies, which is still important. Just to answer your questions that I forgot.
Sorry. Thank you very much. We've actually run out of time. So maybe just 30s for Masato San and Darren, please.
Yeah. Thank you very much. The most important issue of the resilience regions are maybe two aspects. One is a rather narrowly defined the resilience against the climate. And it is really relevant to your question of the green financing. And of course, you know, the there is a huge risk and the Asean is even more exposed to the frequent, and more violent, extreme weather, including typhoons, cyclones and extreme heat. And we are very much conscious about the, of course, the preparedness and prevention and and response. But most important thing we are now trying to do is the incorporation of the resilience into every investment. You know, so for instance, for procurement from the general funds, we are introducing the new procurement policy of the 50% for quality. So price is just 50% for the internationally, advice. Projects. And this is very much fundamental. And more importantly, the broadly defined resilience, including the, of course, the cyber, the cyber, accident. And you mentioned the geopolitical tensions, you know, so.
I'm so sorry, I have okay. Just so yeah, quick one so I can give the final.
So critical mineral supply chain. This is really the shared objective to have a more sustainable and fair supply chain.
Thank you very much, Darren. Quick one.
The plans you're working with Asean, the 2013 and 2046 plans includes a heavy element of the green economy and the orange economy that's come out from all the member states, us and many of us are islands. Singapore is an island. Indonesia is 17,000, very big ones, but some very small ones as well. And of course, across the whole Asian region, we we encounter this. So I think there is a focus on that. Now that's important because without technology you're not going to solve climate change without innovation. Evolution is not going to solve and address climate change. So we're working on that. But I think it's, it's it's exciting. And that, again, shows Asean very forward looking agenda. Because again, it's not very often that we work with a regional platform on these agenda items.
Panelists. Thank you so much. I wish we really had more time to get into it. If I may just recap in one sentence, I think clearly Asean has challenges, recognizes those challenges. But I think sometimes, we give ourselves too much of a hard time as well in terms of what we've achieved. So thank you very much.
Thank you.