MANILA, May 10 — The Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) pledged to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to the illicit narcotics trade as part of its efforts to build a drug-free region, The Philippine News Agency reported.

During the 48th Asean Summit and Related Meeting in Cebu on Friday, the bloc acknowledged the important role of the Asean Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters (AMMD) and its subsidiary mechanisms in advancing regional coordination to address the proliferation of illegal drugs.

The South-east Asian leaders expressed support for the biennial AMMD, looking forward to the Philippines’ chairship of the 9th meeting this year, according to the Asean chair’s statement released yesterday.

Among the commitments made during the summit was the continued implementation of the Asean Workplan on Securing Communities Against Illicit Drugs, anchored on the Asean Political Security Community Strategic Plan.

The priority deliverables would complement the member-states’ shared objectives for a “safe and secure Asean,” the Asean chair stated.

Asean would also observe the Asean Drug Victims Remembrance Day on June 26, in conjunction with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, highlighting the region’s concerted efforts to strengthen community resilience and raise public awareness of the grave repercussions of illicit drug use.

The leaders lauded the continued contributions of the Asean Narcotics Cooperation Centre, particularly its publication of the annual Asean Drug Monitoring Report (ADM), as a key initiative supporting the regional efforts to combat illegal drugs.

They also noted the outcomes of the 19th Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM) and the 12th ADMM-Plus convened in 2025.

“We acknowledged notable progress in regional defence cooperation made in the past two decades, including the founding of the ADMM-Plus in 2010, which reflects Asean’s commitment to an open and inclusive regional security architecture,” the Asean chair said.

The organisation welcomed the expanded defence cooperation among the member-states, allowing the ADMM and ADMM-Plus to address current security challenges in the region and prepare against future threats.

They also commended the growing engagement with external partners, both under the ADMM/ADMM-Plus framework and beyond, including through the continued implementation of the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

“We noted initiatives under the Philippines’ Chairship aimed at investing in the future, by advancing the Youth, Peace and Security Agenda. We looked forward to the flagship activities of the seven ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Groups (EWGs) in the ongoing 2024-2027 cycle,” the Asean chair said.

Human rights protection, peace efforts

The leaders cited significant gains in the work of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in promoting and protecting human rights in the region, including efforts to strengthen the commission’s institutional capacity and enhance cross-sectoral and cross-pillar collaboration.

They backed the AICHR Five-Year Work Plan 2026-2030, looking forward to its “timely, effective and results-oriented” implementation, aligned with Asean 2045: Our Shared Future and its vision of a people-centred, people-oriented, and human rights-based Asean Community.

“With this mechanism, we can enhance regional cooperation to address the lived realities and needs of the peoples of Asean, especially those from vulnerable and marginalised sectors,” the statement read.

They likewise expressed support for the continued discussions on the Asean Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, as well as the Asean Declaration on Promoting the Right to Development and the Right to Peace Towards Realising Inclusive and Sustainable Development.

They stressed the importance of the AICHR’s cooperation with relevant international and regional partners to support capacity-building, technical cooperation, and exchange of good practices.

The regional bloc sought stronger collaboration with national peace institutions, civil society organisations, and other relevant stakeholders to promote dialogue, reconciliation and inclusive peace processes.

They emphasised the need to advance peace initiatives in the region by allowing the participation of women and youth in peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts.

“We encourage continued efforts by the Asean Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (Asean-IPR) through research, advocacy and engagement with relevant Asean bodies, entities and academic institutions that champion peacebuilding and reconciliation, and by actively advancing peace education and the Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agendas,” the Asean chair said. — Bernama-PNA

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — The ringgit eased against major and regional currencies including the US dollar at the close on Friday as investors remain cautious ahead of the United States non-farm payrolls (NFP) report amid renewed escalation in the West Asia conflict.

At 6pm, the ringgit inched down against the US dollar to 3.9185/9230 from 3.9070/9115 at Thursday’s close.

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd chief economist Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said the NFP is expected to decline to 65,000 in April based on consensus estimates versus 178,000 in March.

“The local note softened by 0.31 per cent in light of the unsettling event in West Asia,” he told Bernama.

Meanwhile, SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said profit-taking activities emerged after another West Asia conflict escalation which briefly tested risk sentiment.

He said Iranian attacks on US warships that transited the Strait of Hormuz added a fresh layer of caution towards market sentiment.

“However, the broader ceasefire narrative remains intact after President Donald Trump continued to signal that the truce is still holding,” he said.

Innes said the market still believes in the West Asia conflict de-escalation trade, which should be supportive for Asian currencies and regional risk appetite.

“On the other hand, traders are reluctant to add fresh exposure before the US jobs print, especially if a stronger-than-expected number keeps the US Federal Reserve away from the easing path and supports the greenback,” he added.

At the close, the ringgit traded lower against a basket of major currencies.

It slipped versus the Japanese yen to 2.5010/5040 from 2.4982/5013 at Thursday’s close, eased against the British pound to 5.3354/3416 from 5.3202/3263 yesterday and fell vis-a-vis the euro to 4.6121/6174 from 4.5978/6031 previously.

The local currency was mostly lower against regional peers.

It edged down against the Singapore dollar to 3.0910/0948 from 3.0861/0901 at yesterday’s close, depreciated versus the Thai baht to 12.1640/1844 from 12.1486/1687 previously, and remained unchanged vis-a-vis the Indonesian rupiah at 225.4/225.7.

The ringgit was little changed against the Philippine peso to 6.46/6.47 from 6.46/6.48 at the previous close. — Bernama 

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 — Generative artificial intelligence is being used by 17.8 per cent of the world’s working-age population, but the gap between wealthy and developing nations continues to widen, according to a report published Tuesday by Microsoft.

In the first quarter of 2026, 27.5 per cent of people aged 15-64 in developed countries used a generative AI tool, compared with 15.4 per cent in the developing world — a gap that widened by 1.5 percentage points from the second half of 2025, according to the report’s estimates.

The divide stems from significant inequality in access to internet connectivity, basic digital skills and electricity, according to the Microsoft AI Economy Institute.

AI model performance — historically stronger in English as most of the major AI companies are based in the US — is also slowing the spread of such tools in non-English-speaking countries.

But progress in processing non-European languages is fuelling a catch-up in adoption in some countries, particularly in Asia, the US tech giant noted.

The United Arab Emirates tops the ranking of AI usage at 70.1 per cent, followed by Singapore, Norway, Ireland and France.

The estimates were based primarily on measurements from computers running Windows and Microsoft products such as Bing and Copilot.

They only partially captured usage on Apple devices, and consolidated data was lacking for Russia, Iran and China.

The United States — home to dominant large AI models like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini — ranked only 21st, at 31.3 per cent.

AI usage in China — the world’s second-largest economy which is jostling with the US for an edge in the AI race — was 16.4 per cent, the report said.

Pushing back against fears of job losses driven by automation, Microsoft argued in the report that AI coding tools “could increase demand for developer jobs.”

The company cautioned, however, that “it is still too early to know the full impact” of AI on the labor market.

For the first time in its history, the company itself offered voluntary departures to nearly 9,000 of its US-based employees in April.

According to Layoffs.fyi, a private aggregator, nearly 99,000 people have been laid off in the tech sector since January 1, primarily in the United States. — AFP