ASEAN leaders adopt measures to ease economic pain caused by Iran war

The bloc currently imports more than half of its crude oil from the Middle East.Southeast Asian leaders have agreed on measures aimed at reducing the impact of the Iran war on their economies, but conceded that the initiatives will take considerable time to come into effect.On Friday, leaders gathered in the Philippines for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz dominating the agenda.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US trade with Southeast Asia and Taiwan surging despite Trump tariffslist 2 of 3Southeast Asia shuts offices, limits travel as oil crisis deepenslist 3 of 3Southeast Asia’s leaders confront fallout from Iran war at ASEAN summitend of listMembers agreed to a regional fuel-sharing framework in a bid to ease the economic strain caused by the more than two-month closure of the strategic waterway, which has triggered a global energy crisis. However, it remains unclear how the programme would function, with key details still needing to be finalised, including which countries would be prioritised during a crisis.ASEAN chair and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr welcomed the outcome, but conceded that the practical arrangements still needed to be clarified.“How is the sharing? Who gets what? How do you pay for it? Do you pay for it? Is it an exchange? … We haven’t done it before,” he said.The initiative was one of a handful of measures adopted at the summit.Leaders also agreed to develop a regional power grid and fuel stockpile, while reducing their dependence on energy imports from the Middle East. ASEAN currently imports more than half of its crude oil and 17 percent of its natural gas from the region, according to the bloc’s Centre for Energy. In late March, the Philippines became the first country in the world to declare a national emergency over dwindling energy stockpiles.