Cambodia wraps up year at the ASEAN helm

Cambodia wraps up year at the ASEAN helm

Luke Hunt, Agence France-Presse, Phnom Penh

Cambodia wrapped up a year of chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday following its hosting of this week's annual meetings in Phnom Penh, winning plaudits for managing a difficult period for the regional group.

"We think it went well," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told AFP. "We tried our best and I think we achieved good things for the entire region."

Over the past 12 months, members of the ASEAN have had to cope with terrorism, economic problems caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the fall-out from war Iraq and military-ruled Myanmar's arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I think Cambodia took the helm at a very interesting time in ASEAN history, particularly with the financial crisis, SARS and terrorism," said ASEAN chief spokesman M.C. Abad.

"In spite of all this, ASEAN has been able to look beyond to issues like the ASEAN Security Community (ASC) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). These are very big issues that will command the future of ASEAN," he told AFP.

"Cambodia did a good job."

Indonesia has proposed the setting up of the ASC as a means of combating terrorism while focusing on economic integration through the AEC. Both are expected to gain momentum as Jakarta takes over the ASEAN reins for the next year.

Hosting ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has provided a rare opportunity for Cambodia to bask in the international spotlight.

And the country, which has suffered years of civil war which only ended in 1998, has proved it is capable of hosting major international events.

These included last November's ASEAN summit, attended by heads of state from more than a dozen countries, and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), where foreign ministers from 22 nations and the European Union thrashed out security issues.

The specter of terrorism, in the wake of last October's bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, coupled with Cambodia's ingrained reputation for lawlessness, raised fears about security problems which never emerged.

"So many issues cropped up on their watch," said Singapore's ambassador to Cambodia Verghese Matthews.

"SARS, North Korea, Myanmar all coming along one top of the other.

"I think they did an excellent job, and given the constraints in terms of a lack of manpower and experience, it would have been mind-boggling for any country to carry it off," he said.

This included overseeing a significant shift in ASEAN policy emerging at this week's ASEAN ministerial meetings.

The 10-member bloc broke from its traditional stance of non- interference in a member country's internal affairs and demanded the release of Suu Kyi.

The Nobel peace laureate was detained by Myanmar's junta after her motorcade was ambushed in northern Myanmar, by hundreds of people the U.S. government has labeled "government-affiliated thugs".

"Every foreign minister I spoke to said they did an excellent job, it flowed very freely. They took it very seriously and worked very hard," Matthews added.