Manila, 29 April 2026: ERIA President Tetsuya Watanabe participated in a keynote session at the launch of Advancing ASEAN: A Strategic Action Plan Supporting the Philippines’ 2026 Chairship, convened by the US–ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) and the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) Philippines.

The event brought together senior policymakers, including the Secretary of Trade and Industry and various undersecretaries, alongside business leaders and regional experts. Discussions focused on actionable recommendations aligned with the Philippines’ priorities as ASEAN Chair in 2026, at a time of heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

In his keynote remarks, the ERIA President underscored the growing urgency of energy security, noting that recent global disruptions have exposed structural vulnerabilities across ASEAN’s energy systems. He emphasised that energy challenges are no longer sector-specific, but have far-reaching implications for industrial competitiveness, supply chains, and macroeconomic stability.

He also highlighted key cross-cutting challenges shaping ASEAN’s long-term trajectory, particularly ageing populations and increasing public health pressures. These issues, he noted, will increasingly intersect with economic policy, labour markets, and social systems, requiring more co-ordinated regional responses.

The ERIA President further stressed the importance of collaboration between ERIA and key business organisations such as US-ABC and ASEAN-BAC in supporting policymakers to develop actionable and scalable policy solutions for ASEAN.