ASEAN Centre in MGIMO-University the MFA of Russia

Центр АСЕАН при МГИМО

ASEAN Academic Days 2020: lecture by Bilahari Kausikan

25.09.2020

On September 25th, the online-meeting with Bilahari Kausikan opened the course of public lectures “ASEAN Academic Days 2020”. The course is designed and carried out by the ASEAN Centre in MGIMO.

The first speaker was Bilahari Kausikan, a prominent Singaporean diplomat and expert, who served in a variety of appointments at home and abroad, including as Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry. The meeting was moderated by Dr. Ekaterina Koldunova, Associate Professor at the Department of Asian and African Studies and ASEAN Centre’s Senior Expert.

Bilahari Kausikan gave a brief historical overview of the ASEAN development, outlined its basic principles and highlighted a number of features that distinguish ASEAN from other international integration organizations. Bilahari Kausikan elaborated on the role of ASEAN in the region and reviewed ASEAN dialogue partnership mechanisms, including dialogue partnership with Russia. The speaker believes that ASEAN and Russia have a great potential for cooperation, yet the comprehensive analysis of the existing opportunities to enhance strategic cooperation should be done.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A session. The questions were devoted to such topics as cooperation between Russia and ASEAN in the COVID-19 era, perspectives of the Chinese economic initiatives in the region, the level of integration processes in Southeast Asia and promising areas of cooperation between ASEAN states and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Among the attendances were the representatives of the Russian Embassy in Singapore, the Embassy of Singapore in Moscow, the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomatic Fund, the ASEAN-Russia Business Council, Professors, Russian and foreign graduate and post-graduate students from MGIMO, Higher School of Economics, National University of Singapore and other universities. The online-format of the meeting made it possible to engage a number of participants from different countries (Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia). The online translation of the event was provided at the MGIMO YouTube channel, MGIMO and ASEAN Centre’s Facebook pages.

The next events in the framework of the “ASEAN Academic Days 2020” are scheduled for October. The announcements and the registration form will be available at the ASEAN Centre’s website and Facebook page.