ASEAN adopts declaration to narrow rich-poor divide

ASEAN adopts declaration to narrow rich-poor divide

HANOI (AFP): Southeast Asian governments Tuesday promised to
narrow the chasm that separates the region's richest nation from
countries still mired in third-world poverty.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) adopted a "Hanoi Declaration" pledging to bring
impoverished members closer to the first-world standard of living
in Singapore.

"We resolve to promote, through concerted efforts, effective
cooperation and mutual assistance to narrow the development gap
among ASEAN member countries and between ASEAN and the rest of
the world for the sake of dynamic and sustained growth of our
region and prosperity of all our peoples," the declaration said.

"We shall work together to identify, through research,
analysis and consultation, the comparative strengths of our
economies and their potential for complementarity, with a view to
promoting regional economic integration and a sense of community
and shared responsibility among our nations."

The declaration was formally adopted late Monday and would be
issued at the end of a two-day meeting in the Vietnamese capital
later Tuesday.

ASEAN countries face an enormous task in bridging a gap that
has Laos, on one side, 100 times poorer than Singapore in terms
of income per head.

The ministers said they would "devote special efforts and
resources to promoting the development of the newer member
countries of ASEAN, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam" through
improving infrastructure, human resources and information-
technology.

"We shall continue to expand and deepen our linkages with the
rest of the world, particularly with China, Japan and the
Republic of (South) Korea within the ASEAN Plus Three framework,
and with the other dialogue partners of ASEAN," the declaration
said.

The private sector would also be involved in the drive, the
ministers pledged, in a region where communist members Laos and
Vietnam still insist on the leading role of state enterprise.

The 10 nations agreed to step up regional trade initiatives
and work towards implementing an agreement for a free-trade area
by 2003 among founding members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

"We place the highest priority on the development of our human
resources as the key to economic growth, social stability and
human fulfillment," the declaration continued.

"ASEAN is determined to use information and communication
technology as a tool for narrowing the development gap and
closing the digital divide within and among member countries as
well as between ASEAN and the rest of the world," it added.

They ministers also expressed concern over the U.S.-led
economic slowdown which has plunged wealthy Singapore into
recession and is threatening other regional economies.

They vowed to "accelerate cooperative endeavors" to enhance
the region's competitiveness and help them weather renewed
threats to economic growth.

"We expressed concern over the global economic outlook,
especially the economic downturn in the U.S., Japan and Europe,
which in turn could hamper the prospects for continued growth in
the ASEAN region," the ministers said in a joint communique
issued at the end of a two-day meeting.

"We resolved to accelerate existing cooperative endeavors to
enhance ASEAN's dynamism and competitiveness," the statement
said.

The ministers also discussed the challenges facing the 10-
nation regional bloc, with the focus on the "economic outlook,
the impact of globalization and the region's political and
economic situation that could undermine ASEAN's development and
progress."
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