ASEAN – EIAS

Shaping the Future of Healthcare: an EU-Singapore AI Health Innovation Corridor

Amid a global healthcare crisis marked by a depleting workforce coupled with ageing population concerns, the fast-paced development of artificial intelligence is often presented as a transformative solution to these issues. Yet, the adoption of the AI Act by the European Union in May 2024 has significant implications for the innovation of AI medical tools. If the European Union wants to play a role in the development of the latest health technologies while maintaining its ethical standards, it should seek collaboration with like-minded partners in Asia, such as Singapore, a country that has established itself as a health innovation pioneer while upholding rigorous regulatory standards.

From Connectivity to Compliance: How AI governance can shape EU–ASEAN trade negotiations

As ASEAN advances its digital agenda and AI adoption accelerates across Southeast Asia, regulatory choices are starting to shape trade, investment, and strategic partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. In this environment, the EU can seize the opportunity and promote fruitful partnerships amid ASEAN’s competitive market while positioning its regulatory framework as a driver for cooperation.

New State in the Bloc: Opportunities And Limits for Timor-Leste and ASEAN

Timor-Leste’s accession as ASEAN’s eleventh member in October 2025 marked the end of a fourteen-year accession process and a major milestone in the country’s post-independence foreign policy. While widely celebrated as a symbol of regional inclusion and reconciliation, the membership raises deeper questions about integration, institutional capacity, and ASEAN’s ability to manage persistent development gaps among its members.

A Call for Action: Meditations on the EU’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in light of the 4th Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum and AOIP 2025

As the EU’s 4th Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (IPMF) took place in Brussels on the 20th and 21st of November 2025, the European Union faces a pivotal moment. Despite grand declarations, Brussels’ impact in the region remains constrained by episodic engagement and an overreliance on formal diplomatic channels, notwithstanding efforts to engage with civil society and other relevant stakeholders. How can the EU explore potential alternative channels of diplomacy to establish lasting, practical, and realistic partnerships with its Indo-Pacific partners? By leveraging European expertise as a result of private-sector champions, while simultaneously working together on developing capacity-building initiatives on the ground, the EU may transform its strategy from rhetoric into tangible action and show its partners it is serious about its commitments.

From Landlocked to Landlinked: Transport Connectivity Development in Lao PDR

In December 2021, after five years of construction work, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) inaugurated its first major high–speed railway line. A feat of technology in a landlocked, mountainous country, the Laos-China railway links the capital Vientiane to the Chinese border in less than three hours. A year and a half later, in April 2022, the section was extended by almost 1,000 km to connect the Laotian capital with Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southern China. Designed to open up the country economically to its partners in Southeast Asia, this railway line is shaping the future of Laos as a country at the confluence of many regional and international influences.

Thailand–EU FTA Negotiations: Hidden Hurdles and Easy Wins

Despite confidence from leaders, both parties are walking a tightrope between their international interests and domestic anxieties.

Building Peace Amid Turmoil: What Role Can The EU Play in Myanmar’s Fragile Path to Stability?

The security environment in Myanmar has been at a critical point for the past few years. Since the 2021 military coup under General Min Aung Hlang, security challenges have reached critical levels both internally and regionally, also spreading beyond Myanmar’s borders. Moreover, Refugee inflows, especially into Bangladesh and Thailand, have added to the already existing challenge of the Rohingya Crisis.

Protecting the Invisible Workforce: The EU’s Support in Safeguarding Migrant Workers in Southeast Asia

Following the European Union’s pledge of financial support for the UN’s ‘PROTECT’ Project, how can the EU deepen its strategic alliance in the Indo-Pacific through initiatives addressing labour migration, human rights, and sustainable economic development? How can these non-security efforts complement its strategic partnerships in the region?

Forging Ahead: Restoring EU-Philippines FTA Negotiations

In the complex geopolitical context shaping international dynamics — characterised by a plethora of (in)security dynamics, encompassing shifting alliances and global tensions — the significance of a solid partnership based on economic resilience and an increase of sustainable development has never been more relevant.