ASEAN leaders visit to S'pore raises hopes

ASEAN leaders visit to S'pore raises hopes

SINGAPORE (DPA): A spate of visits by ASEAN leaders to
Singapore has ignited hopes of restoring the grouping's
international credibility and the Southeast Asian region's
attractiveness as an investment destination, the foreign ministry
said Saturday.

Three of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
leaders will be visiting the city-state back-to-back within a
one-week period, with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
scheduled to arrive first from Aug. 22-23.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will be in Singapore Aug.
24-26 and Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri Aug. 26-27,
their schedules showed. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
is set to arrive on Sept. 10 for a two-day stay.

"Singapore places great importance on all these visits," said
a Foreign Ministry spokesman. "They are an opportunity for
leaders to exchange views on the many serious challenges facing
ASEAN in advance of the ASEAN Summit" to be held in Brunei later
this year.

"There is an urgent need for ASEAN countries to work together
to restore ASEAN's international credibility and the region's
attractiveness as an investment destination," the spokesman said.

The flurry of trips present an opportunity to focus on the
economic challenge posed by China in attracting investments away
from Southeast Asian countries.

Singapore's leaders have long been exhorting the 10-member
ASEAN to double its efforts to regain its lost luster.

ASEAN groups Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand,
Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma).

Thaksin, Arroyo and Megawati are making stops here as part of
their introductory visits to ASEAN countries.

Jusuf Wanandi, with Indonesia's Center of Strategic and
International Studies, told The Straits Times ASEAN "needs a new
pressure point so that members can rally around for a common
cause."

"Intra-ASEAN cooperative can be enhanced now, given the
economic competition these states are facing from Northeast
Asia," he was quoted as saying.

Singapore's Trade and Industry Ministry has unveiled a new
initiative aimed at boosting the city-state's share in the
growing China market by hiking the numbers of trade delegations
and sending government scholars on stints.

Minister George Yeo will be leading a business delegation from
26 companies to China's western region of Xinjiang on Monday to
seek new markets and opportunities.