The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) adopted in Montego Bay, Jamaica on 10 December 1982 and entered into force on 16 November 1994 is also transforming the way we contruct the spaces of the sea in Southeast Asia. Both Indonesia and the Philipines have had to change their identities as nation-states to become archipelagic states.
Pentingnya SLOC di Asia Tenggara dari sisi ekonomi adalah eksistensi keberadaan negara-negara di kawasan Asia dan munculnya pengaruh terhadap ekonomi global.