ASEAN MPs urged to tackle terror, drugs, piracy

ASEAN MPs urged to tackle terror, drugs, piracy

Ben Rowse, Agence France-Presse, Hanoi

Terrorism, drugs, piracy and the trafficking of women and
children are among the key issues which must be tackled to ensure
regional peace and stability, Southeast Asian legislators meeting
in Hanoi were told on Monday.

In a welcome address to the 23rd general assembly of the ASEAN
Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO), Vietnamese President
Tran Duc Luong said cooperation needed to be stepped up to meet
these security challenges.

"There remain destabilizing factors in the region ...
threatening regional security and stability and negatively
affecting socio-economic development and people's life," he told
the 350 Southeast Asian legislators gathered for AIPO's opening
ceremony.

"In response to those challenges, we should reinforce our
unity and cooperation within ASEAN and between ASEAN and the rest
of the world on the basis of mutual understanding, trust and
respect."

He added: "This is the optimal means to safeguard regional
peace and stability conducive for prosperous development."

Southeast Asia has found itself thrust into the spotlight of
the U.S. war against terror following the Sept. 11 attacks,
particularly in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, home to
al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants.

The Golden Triangle region continues to be the source of much
of the world's opium, while waters off Indonesia remain a
pirates' playground.

Efforts to stem the tide of women and minors being trafficked
to serve Asia's burgeoning sex trade have had only limited
success.

Luong said that given the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis,
the global impact of the terrorist attacks in the United States
and "fierce" trade and investment competition "ASEAN should
further intensify regional integration and competitiveness".

The Vietnamese president also said he hoped AIPO would
complement efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) to boost economic integration and narrow the development
gap between its members.

"ASEAN has to confront numerous difficulties and challenges,
including the negative effects of globalization ... and the
widening development gap among ASEAN members and between ASEAN
and other regions."

AIPO comprises the eight states with parliaments from the 10-
member ASEAN -- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The other two ASEAN members, Brunei and Myanmar, have no
legislatures but were attending the annual meeting, which wraps
up its formal sessions on Wednesday.

Countries outside the grouping, including Australia, Canada,
China, Japan and New Zealand, were invited as observers.

A delegation of six legislators from the European Parliament,
who arrived on Saturday for four days of talks on Hanoi's much
criticized religious rights record, were also in attendance.

Notable among the Southeast Asian parliamentarians gathered in
communist Vietnam's National Assembly chamber was disgraced
former Indonesian parliament speaker Akbar Tandjung, convicted
last week on corruption charges.

AIPO was initiated by Indonesia in 1974 and officially
established as an organization in 1977.