ASEAN must work hard to restore lost luster: S'pore

ASEAN must work hard to restore lost luster: S'pore

SINGAPORE (AFP): Southeast Asia must redouble efforts to
"regain its lost luster", as the region faces an economic
downturn and key members battle political problems, Singapore
Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said on Wednesday.

The credibility and cohesion of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) was being severely put to test by these
challenges, he said in a speech to university students.

ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Hanoi next week should give
top priority to restoring investor confidence in the region and
in helping poorer members catch up economically, he said.

Singapore, which has the strongest economy in the 10-member
ASEAN, has fallen into recession due to dwindling exports and
sharp falls in industrial output.

Economists have for the first time raised the possibility that
gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year could swing into
negative territory for the city-state from a 9.9 percent
expansion last year.

Singapore's ASEAN neighbors, similarly dependent on exports,
have also slashed growth projections this year due the slowdown
in the U.S. economy and the waning global demand for electronics
products.

"With three of its founding members facing domestic
challenges, and the region experiencing an economic slowdown,
ASEAN is experiencing an interregnum, during which its
credibility and cohesiveness are being severely tested,"
Jayakumar said.

He was referring to Indonesia, which is gripped by a
leadership crisis and separatist unrest in some provinces, as
well as the Philippines and Thailand where new governments are
preoccupied with various problems.

"Even without the financial crisis, ASEAN's expansion to 10
was a challenge in itself, calling for consolidation to allow the
newer members to catch up economically," Jayakumar said.
"With these additional challenges ASEAN currently faces, it needs
to double its efforts to regain its lost luster."

ASEAN originally grouped Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, but gradually expanded to
include Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The regional grouping is fast losing out to China in
attracting foreign direct investments.

On Indonesia, ASEAN's largest member, Jayakumar said the
problems were complex and a new government would find it
difficult to solve all of them immediately.
"If stability is restored, it might take some years for
Indonesian politics to reach a new equilibrium," he said.

The association's foreign ministers gathering desperate to use
key talks with international partners to refocus attention on the
region in the face of the growing pull exerted by a resurgent
China.

The guest list, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, Chinese
Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Japanese Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, ensures the talks a high-profile
platform.

But diplomats say a host of external issues from Korea to
Japanese school history textbooks already threatens to overshadow
the region's efforts to put itself back on the map as the guests
queue up to organize separate talks on the sidelines.

As Powell makes his first diplomatic foray into Asia, all eyes
are likely to focus on the new U.S. administration's policy
towards North Korea.

The U.S. State Department has said it is "possible" the
secretary of state will meet North Korean Foreign Minister Paek
Nam-Sun on the sidelines of the Hanoi talks in a bid to break a
deadlock over President George W. Bush's terms for a resumption
of dialogue.

Strained relations between southeast Asia's three key Asian
partners -- Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo -- also threaten to
overshadow the talks.