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.