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View all search resultsPrabowo’s RCEP test
President Prabowo needs to realize that, although Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN, ignoring its neighbors is a significant blunder.
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President Prabowo Subianto attends the plenary session of the 46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit on May 26 in Kuala Lumpur.
(Courtesy of/Coordinating Economic Ministry)
A
fter wandering the globe to elevate Indonesia's diplomatic status since taking office last October, President Prabowo Subianto now has a crucial chance for down-to-earth statecraft in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. He will participate in the first official summit of the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world's largest and binding trade bloc.
This is a major opportunity for the President to display Indonesia's regional leadership and secure tangible economic benefits. Since coming to power, Prabowo has signaled to neighbors that Indonesia is focused on global affairs and is too important for the regional grouping alone.
His extensive meetings with world leaders, such as Chinese President Xi Jinping, United States President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and various European leaders, demonstrates his bid to play a global role. He even attracted global attention, including from Israel, when he spoke about Gaza at the United Nations General Assembly last month.
Indonesia has not reaped any tangible benefits from the RCEP since it came into effect in January 2022, as the new government tends to overlook this significant trade agreement. The President must now pursue how to concretize the RCEP to revamp the country's stagnant economy.
On Monday, the leaders of the 10-member ASEAN will host a summit with counterparts from the five other RCEP members: Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Collectively, the RCEP's 15 economies represent about 30 percent of global gross domestic product (US$25.8 trillion), 30 percent of worldwide trade and a vast market of over 2.3 billion people. Its immense potential is expected to boost regional incomes by an estimated $653 billion by 2030. With a total of $3.6 trillion in 2022, ASEAN is now the fifth-largest economy globally behind the US, China, Germany and Japan.
President Prabowo needs to realize that, although Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN, ignoring its neighbors is a significant blunder. The regional organization has gained global recognition as one of the world's most successful regional organizations in recent decades.
