The conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip that escalated in the past two
weeks since October 7, 2023, has resulted in the loss of lives on both sides, as well as
harm to foreign workers. The conflict appears to be intensifying and expanding to
other regions, which could ultimately have an impact on global economic stability.
On October 20, 2023, at the ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meetings issued a statement
calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, respect for international humanitarian
law, and expressed readiness to support negotiations for a lasting peace between Israel
and Palestine. The statement also called for the protection and safe release of all
ASEAN nationals, including civilians, without conditions and delay.
Even though Thailand and ASEAN may be far from the Israel-Palestine conflict,
economic interdependencies, global supply chains, and labor migration have made the
situation relevant to our region. In 2022, Israel was the 42 nd largest trading partner of
Thailand, with a total trade value exceeding THB 49,182 million. Furthermore,
around 9,417 Thai workers were employed in Israel, primarily in the agricultural
sector. Among foreign workers in Israel, Thais constituted the largest group at
approximately 23%, followed by Filipino workers at 21% of the total.
Palestine, a small state with a population of about 5 million people, faced economic
challenges in 2022 with a GDP growth rate of only 3.9% and increasing
unemployment, particularly in the Gaza Strip, reaching as high as 45.3%. Despite the
absence of formal state-to-state relations between Thailand and ASEAN and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Palestine, statistics show that in 2022, Thailand exported goods worth over THB 178
million to Palestine, encompassing categories such as automobiles, equipment and
components, canned seafood, and processed foods, making Thailand was the 16 th
largest global trading partner of Palestine, that highest in ASEAN, ahead of Malaysia
and Indonesia, that ranking 19 th and 22 nd , respectively.
The Israel-Palestine conflict is not a distant issue for either Thailand or ASEAN. As
the global supply chain linkage is increasingly interconnected, with significant foreign
worker trends, it has become clear that regional well-being is closely tied to global
geopolitics. Recognizing this, on October 20, 2023, ASEAN held its first ASEAN-
GCC Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, focusing on primary areas of cooperation,
such as maritime security, connectivity, sustainable development, economic
cooperation, investment promotion, and agriculture cooperation.
As geoeconomics and geopolitical interdependencies between ASEAN and the world
continue to deepen, ASEAN cannot remain unaffected by the major power dynamics,
which include not only the United States of America, China, and Russia but also Iran,
the Arab Gulf states, and other significant actors. Thus, managing their economic and
political strategies in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict becomes crucial in
maintaining regional benefits, promoting peace, and preserving ASEAN’s centrality in
a multipolar world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author
Mr. Khobtham Neelapaichit
Senior Researcher
International Institute for Trade and Development (Public Organization)
www.itd.or.th
Publication: Bangkok BIZ Newspaper
Section: First Section\/World Beat
Volume: 37 Issue: 12496
Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Page: 8 (bottom left)
Column: “Insight ASEAN”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":501,"featured_media":103338,"template":"","categories":[35,29],"tags":[352,665,666],"class_list":["post-103337","itd-data-center","type-itd-data-center","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article-en","category-data-center-en","tag-asean-en","tag-impact-en","tag-israeli-palestinian-conflict-en"],"pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"yoast_head":"\n