28/05/2025

WEDNESDAY | MAY 28, 2025

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Jakarta backs Asean bid by Timor-Leste KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has reaffirmed support for Timor-Leste’s bid to become a full member of Asean and welcomed Papua New Guinea’s interest in joining the regional grouping. In his maiden address at the 46th Asean Summit on Monday, Prabowo expressed hope that Timor-Leste would become a full member this year and proposed that Papua New Guinea be considered for membership. This marked Prabowo’s first appearance at the Asean Summit since taking office as president of Indonesia on Oct 20 last year. Timor-Leste, which applied for Asean membership in 2011, was granted observer status at high-level meetings in 2022 and is undergoing evaluation for full integration. Papua New Guinea has also signalled its intention to join Asean. On March 10, local daily The National reported that Prime Minister James Marape said his country plans to join Asean to benefit from Southeast Asia’s economic rise. During the summit’s plenary session, Prabowo called for stronger Asean institutions, including a more empowered central body and secretary-general, to better respond to emerging challenges. “We take pride in our progress in economic integration, growth and social cooperation. But we must work hard to act more effectively. “In the current situation of geopolitical uncertainty, the stronger Asean is, the more we will be heard in the discourse of the great powers. We know now that only those with strength will be respected,” he said, according to remarks released by the Foreign Ministry. Prabowo highlighted Asean’s population size, which is comparable to that of the European Union, and its status as one of the world’s fastest-growing economic regions. “This century is projected to be the Asian century. Let us not underestimate our own strength and power.” – Bernama KATHMANDU: Nepali Sherpa guide Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest for the 31st time yesterday, breaking the record he set last year. He first climbed Everest in 1994 and has done so every year except for three years when authorities closed the mountain to climbers for various reasons. After him, Sherpa Pasang Dawa has ascended Everest 29 times. Among non-Sherpa climbers, the record is held by British guide Kenton Cool, who has accomplished the feat 19 times, followed by American climbers Dave Hahn and Garrett Madison with 15 times each. Guiding foreign climbers to Everest and other peaks provides crucial family income to many Sherpas. Authorities have issued 468 permits to climbers for Everest this March-May climbing season. – Reuters SIKH CHARITY OFFERS FLOOD RELIEF IN AUSTRALIA GHINNI GHINNI: Melbourne-based Sikh Volunteers Australia travelled nearly 1,200km to the rural town of Taree in New South Wales, one of the worst-hit from last week’s floods in Australia’s most populous state, to set up their mobile kitchen in the parking area of a hardware store. More than 50,000 people in the Hunter and Mid North coast regions of New South Wales were isolated last week after fast-rising waters burst river banks, destroyed homes and washed away roads. Five deaths have been linked to the floods. Charity head Jaswinder Singh said: “In times of disasters, I have seen the spirit of Australians come even better, closer to each other. That has a very positive impact.” The charity has been distributing food neatly packed in small boxes. – Reuters MAN SCALES MOUNT EVEREST FOR 31ST TIME

Indonesia goes nuclear

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JAKARTA: Indonesia is hoping that going nuclear can help it meet soaring energy demand while taming emissions, but faces serious challenges to its goal of a first small modular reactor by 2032. Its first experiment with nuclear energy dates to February 1965, when then-president Sukarno inaugurated a test reactor. Sixty years later, Southeast Asia’s largest economy has three research reactors but no nuclear power plants for electricity. Abundant reserves of polluting coal have met the enormous archipelago’s energy needs. But “nuclear will be necessary to constrain the rise of and eventually reduce emissions”, said Oxford Institute for Energy Studies senior research fellow Philip Andrews-Speed. President Prabowo Subianto has promised to ensure energy security while meeting a pledge to eliminate coal-powered electricity generation within 15 years. o No detail on total number of plants planned but government has begun scouting locations

and Central Kalimantan are considered low-risk zones,” said Yogyakarta University nuclear engineering researcher Andang Widi Harto. “These low seismic risk regions also coincide with low volcanic risk regions.” Countries from Vietnam to Belgium are also growing or retaining nuclear capacity as they struggle to meet net-zero goals to address climate change. Indonesia will look abroad for help, said Kusdiana, citing “serious interest” from providers, including Russia’s Rosatom, China’s CNNC and Candu Canada. Kusdiana said the National Energy Council has also visited France’s EDF SA to explore possible cooperation. French President Emmanuel Macron is due in Indonesia this week as part of a Southeast Asia tour. Given the challenges, which also include connectivity issues, waste disposal and potential domestic opposition, some experts warn that Indonesia’s nuclear timeline is over ambitious. Environmentalists would like to see Indonesia focus more on meeting its clean energy targets with renewable sources. Cost and “high corruption” are also obstacles, said NGO Walhi energy and urban campaign manager Dwi Sawung. – AFP

Coal accounts for around two-thirds of electricity generation in Indonesia, which targets net-zero by 2050. The government wants between 40GW and 54GW of the 400GW it projects will be generated nationwide by 2060 to come from nuclear. It hopes to kickstart capacity with a reactor on Borneo “by 2030 or 2032”, according to Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia. It will be a small modular reactor, which has a lower capacity than traditional reactors but is easier to assemble and transport. The total number of plants planned has not been detailed but the government has begun scouting locations, a challenge for a country located on the seismically active “Ring of Fire”. “Currently, 29 potential locations have been identified for the construction of nuclear power plants,” said National Energy Council acting secretary-general Dadan Kusdiana. All are outside the country’s biggest island of Java, in line with government goals to develop the archipelago’s centre and east. The sites would also put facilities near energy-hungry mining sites. While Japan’s quake and tsunami-triggered Fukushima disaster has stalled nuclear progress in some parts of Asia, proponents say nuclear could be done safely in Indonesia. “North Java, East Sumatra, West Kalimantan

VIBRANT VENERATION ... A monk walking past the Wat Rong Suea Ten Buddhist temple, popularly known as “Blue Temple”, in

northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province. – AFPPIC

Philippines deepens ties with Vietnam, Laos

KUALA is strengthening regional ties with Vietnam and Laos as Filipino President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. held separate bilateral meetings with their leaders on the sidelines of the 46th Asean Summit in Malaysia on Monday, Philippines News Agency reported. In his meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Marcos said the two countries are discussing the possibility of elevating their strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership. “Our ministers are in discussions on the possibility of elevating the strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership. I believe there are productive conversations between our two countries,” said Marcos, as quoted in a Malacanang news release. Pham acknowledged the progress in bilateral relations since Marcos’s state visit to Vietnam in LUMPUR: The Philippines

countries has nearly doubled, from US$7 million (RM29 million) in 2019 to about US$13.72 million in 2024. He raised the idea of establishing direct flights between Manila and Vientiane to further boost tourism and connectivity. Siphandone commended the Filipino community in Laos, that is over 2,000 strong, for their contributions in education, research and architecture. He also thanked the Philippine government for supporting Lao ministries through scholarships and language training. He welcomed increased Filipino investments in Laos’s priority sectors, including clean energy, advanced technology and infrastructure. Siphandone extended a formal invitation for Marcos to undertake a state visit to Laos, signalling a forward-looking agenda for broader cooperation in the years ahead. – Bernama-PNA

January last year and expressed hope that the partnership could be further elevated. Both leaders discussed enhanced cooperation in trade, agriculture, food security, tourism, education and cultural exchanges. Marcos extended his condolences over the recent passing of former Vietnamese president Tran Duc Luong. In a separate bilateral meeting, Marcos and Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation as the Philippines and Laos marked 70 years of diplomatic relations. The leaders identified key sectors for deeper collaboration, including trade, education, defence, digital innovation, agriculture, skills development and tourism. Marcos underscored the potential of expanding trade ties, noting Laos’s rapid economic growth. Trade between the two