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Philippines urges ASEAN neighbours to have unified economic stand to Middle East conflict
Shipment of oil products had been hampered by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, hiking prices up to 100% in import-dependent countries such as the Philippines
- PUBLISHED: Mon 16 Mar 2026, 2:46 PM
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The Philippines is urging its Southeast Asian neighbours to form a regional economic group and fast track the integration of the region’s trade and industry sectors as protection from the long-term effects of the war in the Middle East.
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As the US-Israel-Iran war is showing no signs of resolution, a cohesive and unified decision-making mechanism is critical and urgent, the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) trade ministers said in a meeting.
Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) secretary Ma. Cristina Roque said the region’s inter-country economics task force must be transformed into a formal unit to be called the “ASEAN Geoeconomic Group.”
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According to Philippine Information Agency, Roque noted the proposed group is critical to ensure that the 11-country bloc is not just reacting but collectively navigating global shifts, such as the outcomes of the war in the Arabian Gulf.
“For ASEAN, resilience is no longer an aspiration. It is our primary shield. While we remain the global champions of the open market, the current landscape demands that the openness be backed by coordination and foresight,” she said in her opening remarks to the 32nd ASEAN Economic Ministers Retreat.
The meeting centred on the effects of ongoing global economic movements on South East Asian countries, identifying “surging oil prices driven by tensions in the Middle East” as the most pressing concern.
While South East Asia has two oil major oil-exporting countries in Malaysia and Brunei, its biggest oil importers – Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines – source their petroleum and natural gas requirements from western Asia.
Shipment of energy products to the region had been hampered by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, driving price increases of more than 100 per cent in import-dependent countries such as the Philippines.
