ASEAN ministers embark on significant meeting

ASEAN ministers embark on significant meeting

JAKARTA (JP): While it would be a little extravagant to
describe the 29th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) as having
special importance, it does have added significance compared to
previous ones.

For this AMM comes between two ASEAN leaders meetings; the
summit in Bangkok last year and the informal summit coming up
here later this year, and four months after the inaugural meeting
between Asian and European heads of state.

So it is not surprising that many of the items to be discussed
at the two-day AMM will be follow-ups to or preparation for those
meetings.

One of the most important results of the 1995 ASEAN summit was
the leaders' decision to elevate functional cooperation to a
higher plain, thus ministers are expected to take concrete steps
in that direction.

"Its elevation to a higher plain will fortify the dynamic
interaction between the three facets of ASEAN cooperation," said
ASEAN Secretary-General Dato' Ajit Singh before today's meeting.

"Political cooperation brings about peace which makes possible
economic progress and prosperity, and functional cooperation
provides the means for sharing that prosperity," he explained.

The rising focus on functional cooperation marks a new chapter
in ASEAN relations, which have in the past mostly concentrated on
security and economic issues.

Another initiative to be followed up on is the Mekong Basin
development project.

ASEAN economic ministers gathered in Kuala Lumpur in June to
form the Mekong Basin Development Cooperation and the AMM will
discuss that meeting's report, including the possibility of a
joint economic and foreign ministerial meeting prior to the
informal summit in December.

On administrative matters, the AMM will begin to look at ways
of restructuring or possibly expanding the ASEAN Secretariat to
facilitate its increasing workload.

ASEAN currently holds some 250 meetings a year and the
secretariat is becoming increasingly stretched in dealing with
these activities.

Ajit Singh has suggested the possibility of teleconferencing
as a means of dealing with these responsibilities.

Indonesia's director general for ASEAN affairs, Rahardjo
Djamtomo, said that it is important to study the matter from both
the external relations and the secretariat's points of view.

"The point is how to make the organization more effective," he
said.

The dynamic growth of the region and the success of ASEAN have
resulted in a flurry of applicants for dialog relations. This is
why ministers must set out to prepare a set of criteria to accept
new dialog partners.

India is the latest country to be accorded full dialog partner
status.

On the political side, the AMM will again make another call
for nuclear weapons states to support the Southeast Asian Nuclear
Weapons Free Zone Treaty signed in December.

Nuclear powers such as the United States expressed concern
over some elements of it and refused to accede to the Treaty's
protocol.

Some officials have pointed out that one avenue which could be
discussed by the ministers is tabling a draft resolution on the
Treaty at the United Nations General Assembly.

Continuing on the nuclear theme, the AMM will spend time
deliberating on the tough negotiations to complete a
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Though at present such a treaty would not guarantee the
eventual elimination of nuclear weapons, the AMM is expected to
show strong support for a conclusion of a test ban treaty this
year.

Other international topics likely to be touched upon are
Bosnia-Herzegovina, the stalled peace process in the Middle East,
the Korean peninsula and South-South Cooperation.

Since several ASEAN members are directly involved in the
overlapping claims in the South China Sea, the AMM will discuss
the issue and its latest developments.

While many of the above issues are of global importance, the
significance of this AMM probably lies in a subject closer to
home.

During this meeting ASEAN foreign ministers will take note of
and accept the applications for membership from Cambodia and
Laos.

Furthermore, Myanmar will officially be welcomed as an
observer to the association.

ASEAN has already begun to involve them in many of its
activities and the AMM could very well recommend inviting the
three to the informal summit here in December.

Thus by the end of the meeting tomorrow, ASEAN will finally be
realizing the dream of an ASEAN 10 conceived nearly 30 years ago.
(mds)