ASEAN will continue to promote peace

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will continue to promote international peace and security through regional cooperation in all fields, according to Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas.

Speaking at a regional symposium on cooperative peace in Southeast Asia here on Monday, he stressed that regional organizations were more effective than military alliances in maintaining security and peace.

The two-day meeting, attended by UNESCO officials and delegations from ASEAN member countries, was jointly organized by the two bodies.

"In view of the trend toward regional cooperation, I have no doubt that states and especially developing countries will increasingly turn to regional arrangements as a means of overcoming and mitigating their security concerns," he said.

The strategy of seeking security through military alliances with the major powers has long been seen to be counterproductive and will increasingly become irrelevant, he added.

He said that as a regional organization, ASEAN has played its role as a fervent advocate and practitioner of cooperative peace and security among its member countries as well as with countries in other parts of the world.

He said ASEAN countries have also developed a comprehensive security policy and the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) to promote security and peace in the region.

With the concept, ASEAN countries will individually and collectively develop their political, economic and socio-cultural capabilities to withstand internal and external threats, he said.

Alatas said that ASEAN has also establish its own forum (ARF) to ensure stable relationships among its member countries and with its dialog partner countries, including the major powers.

He said that ASEAN has forged economic cooperation through the ASEAN free trade area (AFTA), which becomes effective in 2003, and has pioneered the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which takes effect in 2020.

Meanwhile, UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor said that his organization would enhance cooperation with ASEAN in numerous fields to promote cooperative peace in the region.

"UNESCO is interested in fighting against illiteracy, in intensifying education for women, in promoting intensive-skill learning in education at all levels and in conducting research to improve prosperity in the region," he said.

He also said that UNESCO would sign a memorandum of understanding on education cooperation at the symposium's closing ceremony on Saturday.

Asked about the possible negative impacts of the economic crisis on the ASEAN region, Mayor said he thought that the crisis would raise solidarity between countries in the region and lead them to take joint efforts to defuse its impact. (rms)