ASEAN members told to unite against common problems
ASEAN members told to unite against common problems
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra told a meeting of Southeast Asian parliamentarians here Monday that regional governments needed to be "more united and sincere" in tackling their common problems.
Thaksin opened the 22nd general assembly of the ASEAN Inter- Parliamentary Organisation (AIPO), a week-long conference where 250 delegates and observers will discuss security and cooperation among member states.
"We, the members of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), should concentrate more on forging closer ties with our neighboring countries," the prime minister said.
"Our region has great diversity in resources, manpower and skills. Therefore, we are in a good position to cooperate."
"We need to be more united and sincere in addressing our common problems amid the ever-changing global economic environment," he said.
Thaksin said Southeast Asia must learn how to respond quickly to the changes and reposition its scarce assets if it hoped to fully recovery from the 1997 economic meltdown.
"We all must become more self-reliant and cooperate with each other in both trade and investment to overcome this and any future crisis," he said.
Observers from Australia, Canada, China, Europe and the United States are attending the conference, which runs until Friday. Women parliamentarians from AIPO will also hold talks.
The inter-parliamentary organisation comprises delegates from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The other two ASEAN members not part of the AIPO grouping, Brunei and Myanmar, have no legislatures but will attend the meeting as observers.
Aye Maung, a member of Myanmar's National Convening Commission, said his delegation hoped to learn from the delegates and "consequently give some of our ideas to AIPO."
He said ideas presented at the meeting could help his delegation in its work of preparing the foundation for a draft constitution in Myanmar.
"We are laying down the principles for the drafting of the future constitution for our country," Aye Maung told AFP.
AIPO was initiated by Indonesia in 1974 and officially established as an organisation in 1977. This is the fifth time Thailand has hosted an AIPO assembly.