The 37th ASEAN Summit is taking place in Hanoi via video conference with more than 20 locations around the world. Indonesia has called on ASEAN countries to finalize an agreement on a safe travel corridor in the first quarter of 2021, with Indonesian President Joko Widodo hoping that the Summit will have a statement on a safe travel corridor.
Indonesia proposed the idea of a safe travel corridor last June and was supported by Thailand and Malaysia, although the rest of the bloc has not yet signaled support for the idea.
People have their temperature checked before entering a church in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.
In Southeast Asia, the Covid-19 epidemic situation in Indonesia is the most serious. As of 3:00 p.m. on November 12, according to worldometers, this country is ranked 21st in the world with 448,118 infections and 14,836 deaths.
The largest economy in Southeast Asia is also looking to recover from a technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of decline.
A roadblock in Surabaya
In a statement issued on November 12, Mr. Widodo called on ASEAN to come up with temporary fast-track rules and common health protocols to facilitate the implementation of safe travel corridors between countries as this would help economic activities in the region to pick up.
Covid-19 testing in Bali
“People can't wait any longer, they want to see our area revived,” he said.
