Leaders vow to build ASEAN community

HA NOI — The Southeast Asian leaders yesterday showed their firm commitment to building an ASEAN community with the adoption of two statements and significant guidlines for boosting regional co-operation after a two-day meeting in Ha Noi.

"We were satisfied with the progress in implementing the ASEAN Charter and the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community and reaffirmed our strong commitments to speed up the effective implementation through concrete measures and activities," said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in his statement to end the ASEAN summit which approved the joint declarations on the region's strategy for economic recovery and development, and its response to climate change.

The regional leaders, working under the theme ‘Towards ASEAN Community: From Vision to Action', were committed to strengthening co-operation in deepening regional integration and in addressing global challenges with a view to building a resilient, dynamic and sustained ASEAN Community which will be realised by 2015.

ASEAN's connectivity was among the discussions in the last two days' meetings, where the leaders emphasised to prioritise the enhancement of intra-region connectivity, including the need to complete all air, sea and land transportation links.

In the process of community building, education and human resources development should be given a priority and the regional ministers and senior officials were tasked to sustain concrete measures and activities to implement the Hua Hin Declaration on Strengthening Co-operation on Education, said Dung.

The member states agreed on the promotion of the ASEAN's central role in the emerging regional architecture.

"ASEAN wants to confirm its centrality and wants to be in the centre of the driving force to help pull the world out of the economic crisis," said Surin in a post-summit briefing in Ha Noi later yesterday, confirming that ASEAN was willing to respond to the world's expectation.

Regarding this they reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN's co-operation with external partners to expand its connectivity to the wider region with promoting its activities in the regional forums where ASEAN plays the key role like ASEAN+3, East Asia Summit, and ASEAN Regional Forum.

The leaders were satisfied with the significant progress achieved in the implementation of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint and tasked relevant ministers and senior officials to enhance the utilisation of ASEAN's existing tools and mechanisms, according to the Prime Minister.

Before the summit, the region's Economic Community (AEC) and Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) had their third council meetings and the leaders all welcomed the outcomes and progress made in the implementation of the AEC and ASCC's Blueprints.

The ASEAN leaders yesterday reaffirmed to prioritise narrowing the development gap between member states among the priorities of intra-ASEAN co-operation as well as ASEAN's external co-operation.

"ASEAN has a big gap in the middle of it, which sees people in the least developed countries earn less than $2 a day while ones in the most developed members get up to $45,000 a day," Surin told media and representatives from international organisations of seven member states in a live video conference. "ASEAN needs to bridge the gap."

ASEAN member states showed their strong support to Viet Nam, as the chair of the regional association, in participating into the G-20 summit later this year.

Great fruits

The summit successfully worked out important orientations for ASEAN co-operation this year, Dung said a briefing to the press and media people after the summit yesterday.

"As the ASEAN chair this year, Viet Nam had co-operated closely and actively with other ASEAN members in putting forward many initiatives to boost co-operation among ASEAN members, which was proved by two joint statements on recovery and sustainable development, and climate change."

Answering Viet Nam News Agency reporter's question whether the summit discussed co-operation within Mekong sub-region, Dung affirmed that development co-operation in the Mekong sub-region was always one of ASEAN's priorities.

In the summit, leaders of ASEAN countries had discussed many measures to develop the sub-region such as boosting infrastructure connection to foster the sub-region's sustainable development and joining natural environment protection issues with climate change responding programmes.

Around 80 per cent of ASEAN people are living less than 100km away from coastal line and therefore effectively responding to the global climate change's impact is among the region's top priorities, according to the Secretary-General.

ASEAN highly appreciated results of the first Mekong River Commission Summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand, last week and supported commitments of commission members to enhance co-operation, usage, management and exploitation of natural resource areas in the Mekong River region, Dung said.

"I can say that the Mekong River Commission Summit held in Hua Hin, Thailand, were very successful and representatives of China and Myanmar also expressed their agreements with the summit's joint statement."

Related to the East Sea issue, the Prime Minister said that maintaining peace, stability, security and safety on the sea was a great concern of ASEAN countries and regional countries.

Related countries in the region had reached many agreements, building co-operative mechanisms to ensure peace, stability and joint co-operation in the region, including the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

DOC was an important document signed between ASEAN and China to boost the confidence and co-operation. Related parties affirmed their commitments to comply with DOC and they were making efforts to join hands realising the commitment, he added.

"We believe that with parties' goodwill and for common interests of the whole region, related parties will continue complying with and implementing well DOC as well as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concluded in 1982, to contribute practically to the maintenance of peace, stability, security and safety on the Eastern Sea, because it is the common interest of ASEAN member nations and regional countries."

Regarding the election issue in Myanmar, Dung said that as an ASEAN member and a neighbour country in the region, ASEAN in general and Viet Nam in particular always paid much attention and follow the construction and development process of Myanmar.

"In this summit, Myanmar Prime Minister shared with us recent developments in Myanmar. He also informed us preparations for the general election scheduled to be held this year."

"In the recent visit to Myanmar, besides exchanges of bilateral co-operation, in the position of ASEAN Chairman, I had sent to Myanmar Government and people ASEAN's message that wish Myanmar to implement efficiently roadmap of democracy for peace and national reconciliation, organise a fair and democrative election with the participation of all parties, thereby, shortly stabilise and develop the country."

ASEAN members would continue supporting Myanmar's active regional and international integration and were ready to help Myanmar when requested in the spirit of ASEAN Charter, Dung affirmed.

The ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan agreed with the host Prime Minister in this point.

Myanmar needed to follow the ASEAN roadmap and the region hoped that this year would be a turning point for ASEAN to integrate fully into the world community without any problems standing in between, Surin said in a live conference to Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand from Ha Noi.

Indonesia would serve as the next chair followed Jakarta's request due to schedule conflicts, said Surin, adding that Indonesia, replacing Brunei which agreed to the request, had a long list of summit meetings in coming years including possibility of hosting G-20 and APEC.

Cambodia had been confirmed as the ASEAN chair in 2012 as scheduled after Indonesia and Brunei would take the role in 2013, said Surin. — VNS