ASEAN summit opens in Manila as Anutin pitches Thailand

The ASEAN summit opened in Manila on Sunday with Southeast Asian leaders facing hard questions on trade, security and an energy crisis, while a string of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump later in the week, head to the Philippine capital. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is attending to pitch Thailand as a gateway for investors.

The 49th summit of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is being held under tight security, with nearly 20,000 police officers deployed around Metro Manila, according to an AFP report carried by the Bangkok Post.

Who is coming to the ASEAN summit

Trump is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday, near the end of the gathering. His visit is expected to include a sideline meeting with fellow Quad members India, Japan and Australia, which would be the group's first such meeting of his second term. The Quad is broadly seen as a counterweight to China's influence in the region.

That meeting would come only days before Trump's planned sit-down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Shenzhen, covered in our report on the Trump, Xi and Putin summit.

Other guests include:

• Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, due at a plenary session on Sunday;
• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will sign a new defence pact with the Philippines;
• Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who announced a trade deal with the Philippines on Saturday.

Energy, haze and protests

Early meetings on Saturday covered haze from Indonesia and possible fuel-sharing schemes, as member states struggle with shortages driven by the Iran war.

Progressive groups expect thousands of people to join an anti-Trump march on the summit site on Tuesday. Much of the anger targets the US Pax Silica programme, a supply-chain plan meant to counter China's dominance in semiconductors and rare earths. Its flagship Philippine project, a 1,620-hectare AI manufacturing hub north of Manila, threatens to displace Indigenous families. The US ambassador to the Philippines has said a deal signing timed to Trump's visit was never planned.

Myanmar and the South China Sea

Two long-running problems look set to pass to Singapore, which takes over the rotating chair in 2027. Myanmar has been shut out of high-level ASEAN meetings since the 2021 military coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government.

Thailand, which shares a long border with Myanmar, last week called for Naypyidaw's foreign minister to be allowed back into meetings. Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said on Saturday there was "no easing" of the bloc's approach. Myanmar also faces an international court ruling this week on whether it committed genocide against the Rohingya. Readers can follow the border angle in our story on Min Aung Hlaing and the Thai border.

Hopes for a South China Sea Code of Conduct with China have faded. Lazaro said talks were "80 percent" complete, and a diplomat told AFP he did not expect a signing at the summit.

Anutin's "ASEAN and Beyond" pitch

Before leaving, Anutin used his weekly TV programme to set out Thailand's agenda, the Bangkok Post reported. He plans to promote Thailand's energy security, infrastructure and investment potential, inviting firms to use the country as a base for a regional market of about 700 million people.

He highlighted the push for B20 biodiesel and E20 gasohol to cut fuel costs and imports. Daily B20 use has climbed from around six million litres to 10-11 million litres, he said. Thailand will also raise technology-related crime, money laundering, illicit business and drug trafficking as areas that need stronger cooperation.

Anutin said ASEAN members do not have to move in lockstep, suggesting smaller partnerships such as hydropower with Laos, logistics with Vietnam and closer links between Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. On the United States, his priority is to conclude the Agreement on Reciprocal Tariffs rather than simply secure a meeting with Trump.

Government spokesman Ekkapob Pianpises said Anutin will be in Manila from 14 to 18 November before travelling to the APEC leaders' meeting in Guangdong, China, on 18-19 November.

Image: flags of ASEAN member states, illustrating the ASEAN summit in Manila. Photo by Gunawan Kartapranata via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0.