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Uncertainty, geopolitical competition remain a threat to Asean
The Asian Vision Institute (AVI)’s Centre for Sustainable Development Studies (CSDS) organised the eleventh AVI-SDGs Dialogue webinar series on “Peace and Sustainable Development” via Zoom and Facebook Livestream on Friday.
Chheang Vannarith, President of AVI, and Brigadier General Say Saksovuthy, Director of Military History Institute, General Department of Policy and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defence were among the panellists who provided insightful presentations on the progress of Cambodia’s peacebuilding as an Asean member state and Asean Chairmanship in 2022, and the institutions’ progress regarding the contribution to peace and sustainable development.
According to Brigadier General Saksovuthy, peace is an invaluable asset that must be saved at all costs regardless of race. Cambodia has maintained the peace for two decades, supported by a win-win policy of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Vannarith pointed out that peace and harmony are defined as the fundamental need for sustainable development. Therefore, the SDG-16 played an important role in resolving global and regional conflicts.
He added that the Asean had played an essential role in peace-promoting. At the same time, there are many different agreements and frameworks, especially the Asean Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), which is the key instrument for advocating regional peace
from the geopolitical competition. He also stressed that AVI had been working its best to support the government, particularly the Ministry of National Defence, for capacity building through special training programmes.
Nevertheless, the uncertainty and the geopolitical competition remain a threat to Southeast Asia while the time to achieve the sustainable development goals, including peace, has been approaching the time set in 2030 as the wishful agenda of the United Nations. There is an example of Myanmar where the non-tolerant behaviour of ethnic groups, the political power arrangement, domestic power competition, and the lack of the rule of law have jeopardised the peace and stability in the region.
The webinar successfully ended with relevant comments from the panellists, who also explained their perspectives and gave valuable recommendations. They suggested that learning about history is the potential method for the young generation to maintain peace for the present and the future as Cambodia suffered from the tremendous war, especially the Cold War.
Multistakeholder partnership collaboration is essential for peacebuilding. The collaboration between the government and national and international stakeholders is crucial to achieving peace and sustainable development, the seminar pointed out.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501067398/uncertainty-geopolitical-competition-remain-a-threat-to-asean/