Leading ASEAN

Leading ASEAN

I wish to commend The Jakarta Post for its continuing interest
to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) affairs
and the role of Indonesia in ASEAN. In its Aug. 9 editorial,
once again the Post presented insightful views, through which the
challenges facing ASEAN were identified. The editorial follows
the excellent coverage given by the Post to the 37th ASEAN
Ministerial Meeting/PMC/ARF last month.

However, there were references made about the ASEAN Security
Community (ASC) which were factually incorrect and would
represent a false perception to the public. The editorial made a
hasty judgement by stating that the Plan of Action of the ASC has
been "so heavily watered down that the document had virtually
been turned into a worthless scrap of paper."

In any process of negotiation, it is only natural for ideas to
evolve. When Indonesia presented the draft Plan of Action for the
first time, bold and visionary ideas were deliberately introduced
to stimulate responses and thoughts from other ASEAN countries
about how to move ASEAN's political and security cooperation
forward. After all, the envisioned ASC was to address the
challenges of 2020 and that, therefore, we should not be
straight-jacketed to think in terms of what are "doable" in 2004.

It would have been utterly irresponsible if ASEAN was to limit
its capacity to think innovatively and with vision, in accordance
with the challenges of the future. In fact, after an intensive
process of negotiation, ASEAN Foreign Ministers were able to
agree on the draft Plan of Action of the ASC. A Plan of Action
which left intact the bold and visionary ideas that Indonesia
first introduced.

It is true that the document itself would still be treated as
confidential until it is adopted by the leaders in their
Vientiane Summit in November this year. But, please rest assured
that the ideas incorporated in the document still represent a
visionary, coherent, and realistic ASEAN.

Moreover, the elements included thus far in the document are
not exhaustive. The document is open for new ideas and
activities, which may be proposed by any member country. And the
implementation of the Plan of Action will be a permanent agenda
in the ASEAN miniterial meetings. On its part, Indonesia will
consistently pursue this matter.

The document is definitely not considered to be "a worthless
scrap of paper" by the international community. It is worth
mentioning that even the international community considers the
document as a ground-breaking and extra ordinary achievement for
ASEAN. It was clearly voiced by a number of important countries
during the ASEAN Regional Forum last July in Jakarta.

Of course, it remains a huge task for us to translate those
plans into real actions. Indonesia is currently turning its
diplomatic energy on the reform of ASEAN's institutional
framework, including the idea of an ASEAN Charter, in order to
ensure that ASEAN has the means to realize the vision of an ASEAN
Community. This is exactly what we strive for -- given the
importance of a strong, cohesive and effective ASEAN for our
shared future. But while we recognize the need for ASEAN to
translate words into actions, it would not be wise for us to
habitually talk ourselves down.

MARTY NATALEGAWA, Director General for ASEAN Cooperation
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta