(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte emphasized the need to dismantle and destroy the illegal drug trade apparatus in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, saying it was a “scourge” that “threatens” the youth and the “future of our societies.”
“We cannot turn a blind eye (to) the scourge of illegal drugs that threatens our youth and the future of our societies. We need to take a committed stand to dismantle and destroy the illegal drug trade apparatus. We must reaffirm our commitment to realize a drug-free ASEAN community,” Duterte, who is also ASEAN chair this year, said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Cambodia on Thursday.
According to the President, the youth was, after all, “certainly a key sector” the ASEAN region must invest in.
He said they were “among the best and the most creative, intelligent and innovative in the world.”
“We must empower them to be the best version of themselves,” he said.
ASEAN integration and connectivity
In his speech, Duterte also reiterated the need for “integration and connectivity” within the ASEAN, which has the “third largest labor force in the world.”
He said the region–composed of the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—was also home to more people than in the European Union and in North America.
He added the ASEAN was also the world’s third largest consumer base, and the world’s sixth largest economy, an “emerging economic powerhouse,” so to speak.
“But make no mistake. In pursuit of integration, it is distinctively the Asian way that will guide us. What does that mean? It means achieving sustainable and inclusive development four our region according to our needs, at our own pace, and guided by our core values,” he said.
“The ASEAN has allowed us to get to where we are now. It will take us forward,” he added.
