By all measures of its immense diversity and dynamism, Southeast Asia ought to command focus at the fore of global conversations, but remains overlooked and underrated. At a book talk co-hosted by APARC’s Southeast Asia Program and the Precourt Institute for Energy, entrepreneur and educator Gita Wirjawan, former minister of trade of Indonesia and a visiting scholar with the Precourt Institute, outlined crucial steps for Southeast Asia’s future success.

Drawing on insights from his new book, What It Takes: Southeast Asia, Wirjawan called for a rethinking of the region’s development trajectory, identifying education, energy, and storytelling as pivotal levers to propel Southeast Asia from the margins of global relevance to its center.

Narrative Power as a Strategic Asset

In a conversation with David Cohen, the co-director of the Southeast Asia Program, Wirjawan emphasized that Southeast Asia’s story is too often told by outsiders. He urged Southeast Asians to reclaim this narrative. “The immensity and diversity of the region often get obfuscated,” he argued, not just by external voices but by a regional failure to invest in the capacity to tell its own stories, particularly stories grounded in data, numeracy, and long-term thinking. Stanford, he noted, has played a catalytic role in shaping his own views on this need, and he sees students as "storytelling multipliers" who can disseminate Southeast Asia’s narrative on the global stage.

Structural Impediments Holding the Region Back

Despite a population of 700 million and a $4 trillion economy, Southeast Asia continues to underperform relative to its potential. Wirjawan attributed this to several deep-rooted structural factors:

• Underinvestment in Education and Infrastructure: Apart from Singapore, the region has failed to invest sufficiently in its human capital and foundational infrastructure.
• Governance and Talent Gaps: Weak institutions and governance structures continue to constrain competitiveness and adaptability.
• Lack of Rule of Law: Legal systems in much of the region struggle to provide the certainty necessary to convert uncertainty into manageable risk.
• Energy Constraints: Energy access and generation lag far behind the needs of an AI-driven and industrializing future, creating what Wirjawan called an “underrated un-equalizer.”

Southeast Asia, he said, must develop the cognitive and technological capacity to move “up the value chain” and redefine its role in a multipolar world.

Education as the Great Equalizer

STEM education is a linchpin for the region’s future trajectory, according to Wirjawan. He emphasized that Southeast Asia needs to increase both the quantity and quality of its universities, taking cues from China's investment in higher education and Singapore’s consistent excellence. Investment in teaching quality, language training (especially English), and AI literacy are non-negotiable for regional advancement, he says.

“AI can be a game changer,” he argued, “but only if shepherded by those with STEM capabilities.” He advocated for a “bottom-up” approach to education reform, enabling broader cultural permeation and a long-term strategy for human capital development.

Energy as a Limiting and Enabling Force

Wirjawan painted a sobering picture of the region’s energy challenges, pointing out that many countries, like Indonesia, would require over a century at current investment rates to meet modern energy needs. AI technologies, for instance, require massive energy inputs, an infrastructure the region is ill-prepared to supply. Still, he remains cautiously optimistic, noting that better decision-making frameworks and climate-friendly investments can shift the trajectory.

Toward a New Geopolitical and Economic Role

The book and conversation situate Southeast Asia within a “geopolitical watershed,” a transitional moment shaped by the evolving U.S.-China rivalry. This great power competition plays out in all sectors: across technology, capital flows, and influence, and Southeast Asia must skillfully navigate these waters. Wirjawan highlighted Singapore and Vietnam as success stories that have already begun this process.

The conversation also explored potential reforms to ASEAN, the region’s principal multilateral body. While ASEAN has been effective in consensus-building, Wirjawan proposed a more daring institutional redesign to meet contemporary needs, particularly in aligning human capital development across member states.

A Multipolar World with Multipolar Storytellers

A core message of Gita’s book is that, for Southeast Asia to rise, it must better articulate its story by, empowering regional voices. From policy students to diplomats, from podcast hosts to AI engineers, the task ahead is to democratize knowledge, elevate local talent, and connect the cultural, historical, and technological dots that make Southeast Asia a vital force in the 21st century. 

The key takeaways from Wirjawan’s book emphasize how Southeast Asia can unlock its untapped potential by leveraging narrative, the region’s massive economic and human scale, and multipolar collaboration to chart a path from periphery to core.
 

• Narrative Matters: Southeast Asians must learn to tell their own stories with data, nuance, and conviction, rather than leaving interpretation to external observers.
• Education is Foundational: Closing the education and STEM gap is essential to economic advancement and technological participation.
• Energy Is a Bottleneck: The region’s energy infrastructure must be radically upgraded to support modern technologies like AI.
• Structural Reform Is Urgent: From rule of law to infrastructure to governance, long-standing impediments must be addressed to unlock growth.
• Multipolarity Offers Opportunity: In an increasingly multipolar world, Southeast Asia can play a unique stabilizing role, if it embraces long-term, region-specific strategies.
• Stanford’s Role: Academic institutions like Stanford are seen as pivotal partners in amplifying Southeast Asia’s voice and equipping the next generation of regional leaders and storytellers.