Interactive Economy

"No Shipping, No Shopping"

"No shipping, no shopping." It is a line used often in the shipping industry, and one that understates a straightforward fact: more than 80 percent of global me

Akhyari Hananto

July 31, 2026 9:20 AM GMT+7

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Data Sources

Figures on trade volumes, fleet size and chokepoint traffic are as presented at the forum, sourced to UNESCAP (August 2025) and Deloitte & Touche (2026) in the original presentation. Worth independent verification against the primary reports before publication. Reporting from the 10th ASEAN Media Forum (AMF), Manila, 2026, panel "Navigating Shared Seas: ASEAN's Role in Advancing Rules Based Maritime Cooperation."

"No shipping, no shopping." It is a line used often in the shipping industry, and one that understates a straightforward fact: more than 80 percent of global merchandise trade by volume moves by sea. The industry side of the panel opened with it, and the rest of the session, part legal history, part scholarship, part balance sheet, spent the next ninety minutes filling in what that line leaves out.

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