Emboldened by its leadership of the Business 20 (B20) agenda under last year’s Indonesia-led Group of 20 (G20) forum, Indonesia’s private sector has set out to make Southeast Asia the center of gravity in a world struggling for economic and political direction. ASEAN’s claim to leadership had always been belittled elsewhere, particularly in the last few years, ASEAN Business Advisory Council (BAC) chairperson Bernardino “Dino” Vega told executives in at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Dino was attending the elitist gathering as part of a business and government delegation seeking to pitch their country as an investment destination through the forum’s Indonesia Pavilion.
With this enthusiasm and commitment, Indonesia carried out the handover of the Chair of ASEAN 2023 from Cambodia in November 2022 and set the theme of the chairmanship of ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth. This means that Indonesia is ready to play an important role in leading the direction and goals of ASEAN political, economic and socio-cultural cooperation.
Indonesia to ‘bring back’ ASEAN centrality with focus on economy
