ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Dialogue 2019: Report of proceedings

The 2019 Dialogue focused on the US-China strategic competition, regional trade mechanisms, Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE), environmental challenges, perspectives on ASEAN-centred regional mechanisms/architectures, and the opportunities/challenges for ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand trilateral relations. 

The 6 sessions convened were titled: 

• Regional perspectives on managing the US-China strategic competition 
• Moving forward with regional trade mechanisms 
• The challenge of preventing and countering violent extremism on social media 
• The challenge of managing the environment in a developing Southeast Asia 
• Evaluating regional architectures and mechanisms 
• Perspectives on ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand cooperation and challenges 

The Dialogue saw strong attendance by participants from various backgrounds, including government officials, academicians, journalists and analysts, among others. A total of 66 participants attended the one-and-a-half-day Dialogue. 

Key takeaways from discussions: 

• All parties – ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand can learn a lot from each other on engagements with China and the United States, and the issues that drive decision-making in these major powers. 
• Participation from the ASEAN Secretariat’s Political Security Department was very valuable to the discussions – especially on ASEAN’s role managing major power relations and in ASEAN centred multilateral mechanisms. 
• A greater understanding of how ASEAN, its institutions and Member States operate, especially in areas where there are limitations, were invaluable to stakeholders from Australia and New Zealand. 
• ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand, need to move beyond trade cooperation to address political-security and socio-cultural issues – the latter might yield more low-hanging fruits.