ASEAN Summit: Continuing the dynamism

ASEAN Summit: Continuing the dynamism

Ong Keng Yong, Jakarta

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will end
the year 2004 on a high note. A record number of about 20 major
agreements and declarations are expected to be signed or adopted
either by the ASEAN member countries or between ASEAN and its
partners in the Lao capital of Vientiane next week. This is the
culmination of year-long consultations, negotiations and
consensus-building that demonstrates ASEAN's continued dynamism
and relevance.

The 10th ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Vientiane will
take up issues ranging from setting strategic directions to
adopting follow-up cooperative activities and discussing results
of commissioned studies by experts. The subjects cover the
spheres of peace and security, economic integration (in
particular, the priority integration of eleven selected sectors
in ASEAN) and socio-cultural development. The event will have
something for everybody: those in the public sector, private
sector and the civil society.

The Vientiane Summit is a vote of confidence in Laos' ability
to undertake its responsibilities in steering ASEAN this year.
Hosting the ASEAN summit and its related meetings for the first
time, Lao will have an opportunity to focus the regional media's
attention on the country.

The summit in Vientiane will see in action freshly mandated
heads of state/government from Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines and Singapore. The good group chemistry of their
predecessors and the other ASEAN Leaders had a most positive
effect on ASEAN summit diplomacy, bringing out the best of the
diversity in Southeast Asia.

There will be a keen interest to see a replication of such
constructive group dynamics. The new Prime Minister of Myanmar is
likely to be the most watched as he updates his counterparts on
the situation in his country since his predecessor obtained ASEAN
Leaders' support of a roadmap for national reconciliation at the
last ASEAN Summit in Bali in October 2003.

The ASEAN Leaders are expected to adopt the six-year Vientiane
Action Program (VAP) to continue the implementation of the goals
laid down in the ASEAN Vision 2020 and the Bali Concord II. The
VAP incorporates, among others, ASEAN's specific commitments to
establish the ASEAN Community, including the plans of action on
the ASEAN Economic Community, the ASEAN Security Community and
the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

These commitments for community-building are also designed to
narrow the development gap among the ASEAN Member Countries. The
VAP serves as a cross-sectoral and inter-facing instrument to tie
in the various practical actions for the period 2004 to 2010.

In addition to the annual ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and
the Republic of Korea) and ASEAN-India summitry, this year will
also see ASEAN leaders meeting their counterparts from
neighboring Australia and New Zealand. Commemorating three
decades of cooperative relations, the leaders of ASEAN, Australia
and New Zealand are expected to elevate the current economic
relationship under the AFTA-CER Closer Economic Partnership to a
higher level by launching negotiations on establishing an ASEAN,
Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Area within 10 years.

Drawing alongside the closer economic arrangements that China,
Japan and India have each entered with ASEAN in the past two
years, the Republic of Korea, this time, will sign with ASEAN a
Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Cooperation Partnership. The
Declaration will mandate the establishment of an ASEAN-RoK Free
Trade Area (AKFTA) to be realized within ten years or earlier.
The AKFTA will involve progressive elimination of all forms of
barriers to trade in goods, services and investment. ASEAN and
the South Korea are the 5th largest trading partners for each
other and ASEAN is the third largest destination of FDI from the
South Korea.

ASEAN and China will carry forward the process laid down in
the 2002 Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation by entering into agreements on trade in goods and on
dispute settlement mechanisms. The two-way trade between ASEAN
and China in 2003 was close to US$79 billion. For 2004, the
booming economy of China and the higher than expected GDP growth
in ASEAN will mean a bilateral trade of nearly US$100 billion.
Thus, the target of US$100 billion for ASEAN-China trade by 2005
is within easy reach.

Cognizant that international terrorism remains a threat to
peace and security in the region, ASEAN and Japan are expected to
launch cooperation to counter international terrorism through
information exchange, intelligence sharing and capacity-building.
Both sides will designate national focal points to coordinate the
implementation of the proposed Joint Declaration.

At the same time, the ASEAN-Japan Summit will review the
progress of implementation of the closer economic partnership
framework, which was launched in 2003, particularly on the
consultations towards the liberalization of trade in goods,
services, and investment.

An innovative and significantly symbolic event is the ASEAN-
India Car Rally from India's northeast Guwahati City to the
Indonesian island of Batam. TherRally will be flagged off by the
Indian Prime Minister one week before the summit and the cars
will be in Vientiane in time for the ASEAN-India Summit on Nov.
30.

From India, the car rally will traverse Myanmar, Thailand,
Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and will end in
Batam. The car rally will underline the geographic contiguity
between India and Southeast Asia and bring home a point that
ASEAN and India are connected and accessible through land
transport.

A visionary document and a plan of action between ASEAN and
India will be signed in Vientiane. This is expected to boost the
current ASEAN-India trade of US$13 billion to US$30 billion by
2007.

The foreign minister of Russia will travel to Vientiane to
sign an instrument of accession to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation in Southeast Asia. Russia will be the sixth country
outside of Southeast Asia -- after Papua New Guinea, China,
India, Japan and Pakistan - to adhere to the purposes and
principles of the Treaty, which prescribes a code of conduct in
inter-state relations and a process of pacific settlement of
disputes in Southeast Asia. The Republic of Korea is also
expected to accede to the Treaty at the Vientiane Summit.

There is no doubt that the ten diverse ASEAN Member Countries
and a similar number of dialogue partners make ASEAN community-
building and international relations a complex undertaking. Yet,
there is an audacious enterprise among ASEAN and its partners to
get great value from such a configuration.

ASEAN has remained focused on consolidating economic
integration, maintaining inter-state peace and stability and
promoting human security and development. ASEAN has positioned
itself strategically as the hub of future-oriented regional
dialogue and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific. ASEAN is
determined to share its dynamism and optimism for the future with
those who believe in prospering together.

The author is ASEAN Secretary General in Jakarta. The view is
personal.