The finance chiefs of the Association of South-East Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea shared their concerns Sunday about crude oil supplies amid the Middle East conflict, agreeing to unite further in addressing shared challenges.
“The escalation of conflict in the Middle East has amplified downside risks to the regional outlook significantly,” the finance ministers and central bank governors said in a statement adopted at their talks on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The representatives of the ASEANplus-three countries said they “remain attentive to risks stemming from excessive volatility and disorderly movements in financial markets” and “stand ready to respond” in line with domestic conditions, the statement said. The ADB’s four-day meeting from Sunday came with many Asian nations that are heavily reliant on oil imports from the Middle East hit by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran following US-Israeli attacks.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama, who cochaired the meeting along with the Bank of Japan’s Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino and representatives from the Philippines, said the countries agreed on the need for regional cooperation and vowed to help each other in diversifying supply chains.
Kyodo
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