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ASEAN hails new secretary-general amid challenges
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A worker adjusts an ASEAN flag at a meeting hall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Oct. 28, 2021. (Reuters/Lim Huey Teng)
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ew ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn will prioritize the six P’s of peace, prosperity, planet, people, partnerships and potentials during his four-year term as administrative head of the bloc, he said in his inaugural speech on Monday.
Kao, a Cambodia-based international relations scholar, took the baton of leadership from Bruneian diplomat Lim Jock Hoi in a ceremony at the ASEAN Secretariat in South Jakarta.
His inauguration comes as the organization is tested by the ongoing crisis in post-coup Myanmar and renewed geopolitical rivalries playing out in Southeast Asia.
A “strong pivot” toward the digital economy would be a top priority, Kao added, to realize the region’s economic potential and open fresh employment opportunities. ASEAN also needed to move toward greener development, he said.
“The next page in ASEAN’s important story will be one shaped by new and emerging trends that present both challenges as well as opportunities,” Kao said.
“For sure, ASEAN has always been at its very best when it works together collectively. [...] I am confident that if we stand united, act collectively and positively, [...] there is nothing that ASEAN cannot achieve.”
Among Kao’s ASEAN priorities were empowering the region’s youth population through community building, fortifying partnerships internally and externally as well as pursuing a green economy.
