Quo vadis ASEAN, Indonesia?<\/p>\n
The economic crisis that hit member nations of ASEAN five
\nyears ago and the change of government in Indonesia have loosened
\nthe grouping's solidarity.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, for instance, are no longer
\nclose to one another.<\/p>\n
Solidarity and togetherness are important to ASEAN, as the
\nregion is home to more than 500 million people.<\/p>\n
The presence of China, South Korea, Japan and India at the
\nASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN-BIS), held at the
\nNusa Dua tourist resort on Oct. 6 in Bali, reflects the
\nimportance of the grouping.<\/p>\n
Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, however, said trade
\nactivities within ASEAN were still less than 25 percent, as most
\nASEAN members preferred to set up trade ties with countries
\noutside the grouping.<\/p>\n
Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said business
\ninterests in ASEAN still faced obstacles in making investments as
\nthe grouping had not adopted the basic principle of creating a
\nsingle market, not to mention the high-cost economies of its
\nmember countries.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, the host of the ASEAN-BIS meeting, should thus
\nlearn from the shortcomings of the ASEAN trade activities and be
\ncommitted to creating good governance and clean government.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, which has been identified as one of the world's
\nmost corrupt countries, should launch an all-out campaign against
\ncorruption; otherwise it will be remembered only as one of
\nASEAN's five founding countries.<\/p>\n
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/quo-vadis-asean-indonesia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }