Association of Southeast Asian Nations members agreed to boost maritime cooperation and create a new center for maritime issues after the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz highlighted the region's exposure to shipping disruptions and energy supply shocks, Bloomberg reported on May 8. ASEAN leaders also discussed a broader coordinated response to the Middle East crisis, including fuel contingency planning, supplier diversification, crisis communications and faster ratification of an existing voluntary oil-sharing pact.

ASEAN is holding its annual leaders' summit in Cebu, Philippines, where the Strait of Hormuz crisis has turned maritime chokepoint vulnerability into an urgent economic security issue, as the bloc's members depend heavily on Gulf energy flows and open shipping routes. The crisis has also sharpened concern that such a disruption could be replicated in or around Southeast Asia's own chokepoints, especially the Strait of Malacca.