Southeast Asian leaders announce defense pact, development plans and infrastructure updates

Indonesia announced that the Badr Memorandum defence partnership with Türkiye, Qatar and Pakistan will be leveraged to expand its domestic defence production, and President Prabowo Subianto signaled that foreign-backed companies tied to recurring forest and land fires could lose operating permits. In Laos, a five-year development plan backed by roughly US$510 million from the United Nations was approved, and Vientiane will host the 11th Nanhai Buddhism Roundtable with delegates from 31 countries.

Myanmar held a ceremony honoring producers of Pawsan rice, the World’s Best Rice 2026, and the government is supplying about 26 million cubic feet of CNG daily to vehicles in Yangon. The Philippines’ TESDA chief urged ASEAN members to future-proof technical and vocational education, and a lawmaker called on local governments to collaborate with universities to produce electric vehicles for public transport. Singapore’s Law Society elected two prominent lawyers to its council after a turbulent year, and three hospitals were named AI innovation leaders in a global ranking.

Thailand’s State Railway filed a lawsuit seeking THB13.3 billion over unpaid Airport Rail Link investment fees, while a think-tank highlighted the need for quality jobs, reduced inequality and anti-corruption reforms. Vietnam Airlines will start daily direct flights between Da Nang and Singapore, and central Vietnam’s deep-water ports are drawing major industrial projects.