ASEAN breaks new ground

ASEAN breaks new ground

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

BANGKOK (JP): Though the adjective "historic" is ubiquitous in
relation to high-level meetings, it aptly describes the fifth
ASEAN Summit here.

Many "firsts" will occur at this meeting which will make it
truly historic in every sense of the word.

This will mark the first time that Vietnamese Prime Minister
Vo Van Kiet will join Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah,
Indonesia's President Soeharto, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, Philippine President Fidel Ramos, Singapore Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong, Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-Archa
at an ASEAN Summit meeting.

Vietnam became the seventh member of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) earlier this year.

If Van Kiet is attending his first meeting of ASEAN leaders,
then President Soeharto is the only leader to have attended all
Summits of the regional grouping.

The first Summit was held in Bali in 1976, followed by Kuala
Lumpur in 1977, Manila in 1987 and Singapore in 1992.

However, not only will this be a first for Vietnam, it will
also be the first Summit in which ASEAN leaders will also meet
with other non-member leaders of Southeast Asian states.

Cambodian joint Prime Ministers Norodom Ranariddh and Hun
Sen, Laotian Prime Minister Khamtay Siphandone and Myanmarese
Prime Minister Than Shwe will also hold discussions with ASEAN
leaders on Friday.

Friday's meeting is seen by many here as the beginning of the
final steps towards the "ASEAN-10", which would include all the
countries of Southeast Asia. It was the dream of ASEAN's founding
fathers 28 years ago.

Cambodia and Laos currently already have observer status in
ASEAN.

Suvidya Simaskul, director general of information at the Thai
foreign ministry, said that through dialog the 11 leaders are
engaging in a process of confidence-building which is necessary
to develop mutual trust towards the aspiration of a single
Southeast Asia.

Discussions will see an exchange of regional and international
perspectives both politically and economically.

One official told The Jakarta Post that the topic of further
assistance to "CLM", the popular term for Cambodia, Laos and
Myanmar, is also to brought up to help accelerate economic and
administrative reforms in order to forge compatible linkages
between all 10 countries.

Also on Friday, leaders of ASEAN and CLM will sign the
Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty.

Ten years in the making, SEANWFZ affirms Southeast Asia's
commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.

Though some of the thunder of SEANWFZ's signing might have
been taken away by the United States' dismissal of the pact last
week, ministers and officials are still hailing it as a
milestone, both in terms of regional peace and cooperation.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said upon his arrival
here last week that Washington's statement in no way undermined
SEANWFZ. He noted that other nuclear-weapon-free-zone treaties,
such as the South Pacific's treaty of Raratonga, signed over a
decade ago, have been successful despite their non-acceptance by
the U.S.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi also stated that
ASEAN must do what is in the best interests of the organization
and not cave in to the demands of a superpower which is not part
of the region.

Speaking of today's Summit, Alatas described it as part of
ASEAN's continuing ascendance towards a higher plain which began
at the first Summit in Bali 19 years ago.

He said that at the first Summit, ASEAN issued the Bali
Concord which avowed ASEAN's common commitment to promoting
cultural, political, economic and social cooperation.

Then, at the second Summit in Kuala Lumpur, ASEAN established
a framework of dialog to promote security and economic
cooperation known as the Post-Ministerial Conference.

The third Summit ASEAN broke new ground by allowing a non-
member, Papua New Guinea, to accede to the Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation (TAC). Such a move laid the foundations for the TAC
to be the basis for relations should other states in the future
also accede to it.

The fourth Summit in Singapore forged the first tangible trade
mechanisms by establishing the Common Effective Preferential
Tariff (CEPT) scheme to help create an ASEAN Free Trade Area.

Alatas points out that this year ASEAN climbs another step up
by signing the SEANWFZ treaty and by the meeting of ASEAN and
CLM.

The question that remains now is whether the SEANWFZ treaty
can be potent despite Washington's censure, and whether ASEAN can
remain strong and avoid being slowly diluted as new members with
relatively backward economies join.

Editorial -- Page 4

Summit -- Page 6

Farm -- Page 8

Photo -- Page 12