00:00Is it the case that following the shock of the tariffs imposed by the U.S. affecting so many countries
00:08here in the Asian Pacific region, has that expedited ASEAN's interest in looking for strong strategic trade with other partners?
00:20I don't think we can deny that. I mean, the fact that we have to keep all options open. And,
00:28you know, we don't deal with one partner. ASEAN is famous for having many different partners. And I think that's
00:36the way to go is to keep ourselves engaging with existing partners, but also looking at new partners. And I
00:46think that's what we see.
00:46And that's why now we have more partners that wish to have formal partnership with ASEAN. I'm looking forward to
00:55upgrading our relationship with some of our partners.
00:57At the same time, this year is a very special year for ASEAN as we are just about to commemorate
01:04our 50 anniversary of the Treaty of Amity Incorporation in South Asia.
01:08We have 58 high contracting parties already, more to come. And again, through this particular treaty, we have more partners
01:19through this, what we call the high contracting parties, which is very important for us as a region.
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