The coronavirus pandemic has seen the world’s attention focus on China, the US, Europe, and the UK. We know much less about the pandemic’s impact on the countries of Southeast Asia, home to over 660 million people in our own region of the Indo-Pacific. Despite its close integration with the Chinese economy and openness to the world, Southeast Asia has experienced much lower death rates in comparison to many other regions.

Yet the pandemic has been a challenge for the region’s political leaders. In Indonesia, the coronavirus has tested the government’s crisis management capabilities, while in Thailand, mixed messaging on travel restrictions and social assistance measures has confused the public. Vietnam, meanwhile, which closed its borders to China in January, has been upheld as a global exemplar in managing the pandemic. As Southeast Asian governments emerge from pandemic, they face the prospect of economic recession and the associated risks to social cohesion and political stability. And as in other regions of the world, the pandemic has highlighted Southeast Asia’s dependence on Chinese investment, supply chains, and markets.

The UQ Southeast Asia Forum presents a webinar to discuss Southeast Asian governments’ handling of the pandemic, and to question what changes the coronavirus pandemic may bring to the politics, economics, and foreign relations of the region.

Our panel of discussants from Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), the University of Sydney, and the UQ Centre for Policy Futures, discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Southeast Asia.

Panel Discussants:
Dr. Yono Reksoprodjo, Head of Logistics, Covid-19 Volunteer Taskforce, Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) & Senior Lecturer at the Indonesian National Defence University
Dr. Hai Hong Nguyen, Research Associate, UQ Centre for Policy Futures
Dr. Aim Sinpeng, Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney & Thailand Coordinator, Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC)
Moderator: Dr Greta Nabbs-Keller, Research Fellow Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, Centre for Policy Futures

UQSEAF Forum Convenor: Dr Patrick Jory, Senior Lecturer in Southeast Asian History, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry

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