Malaysian PM outlines vision for EAC

Malaysian PM outlines vision for EAC

Eileen Ng, Agence France-Presse/Kuala Lumpur

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday outlined his
vision for an East Asian Community (EAC) incorporating a free
trade area, a non-aggression zone and political and security
cooperation as Malaysia prepares to host an inaugural summit next
year.

Abdullah said East Asian cooperation had become more urgent
after the 1997 Asian financial turmoil, regional crises such as
the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu
epidemics as well as the terrorism threat.

The summit of East Asian nations in Kuala Lumpur next December
will mark the first milestone in the "irreversible" journey
toward an integrated region and send a powerful signal to the
world of their deep level of trust and cooperation, he said when
opening a regional forum here.

To chart the way forward, Abdullah listed six key markers: a
regional charter, a free trade area, a monetary and financial
cooperation pact, a zone of amity and cooperation to prevent an
arms race, a transportation and communications network and a
declaration of human rights and obligations.

"We can begin to chart our way forward to seeking to emplace
certain clearly discernible milestones in the route map to the
East Asian Community" of more than two billion people and a
combined gross domestic product of $6.8 trillion, he said.

"We must strategize to make the leap forward toward an East
Asia Free Trade Area... a stable and prosperous East Asia would
be a major contribution to world peace, security and prosperity."

But Abdullah said issues such as tensions on the Korean
peninsula, overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea,
regional terrorism and pockets of internal strife could obstruct
the creation of an EAC and must be addressed urgently.

Malaysia notched up a victory at the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos last week when leaders
endorsed its proposal for a regional summit which would include
Japan, China and South Korea, despite initial objections from
Indonesia.

ASEAN has held annual dialogs with the three nations since
1997 under a loose framework known as ASEAN Plus Three. Analysts
and diplomats said a formal summit would underscore the region's
serious intent to become a European Union-style single market and
community by 2020.

The EAC is the realization of a 1990 proposal by then-premier
Mahathir Mohamad for an East Asian Economic Caucus, which failed
to take off due to opposition from the United States which feared
it would undermine the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum.

Mahathir, who retired in October last year after 22 years in
power, said on Monday he was happy that the quest for an EAC was
finally underway but insisted Australia should not be included.

"They are ethnic Europeans, they cannot be Asians," he said,
adding that Canberra had "nothing" to offer the EAC.

ASEAN's foreign ministers have been tasked to work out the
details, but host Abdullah has indicated that Australia and New
Zealand could be invited to the summit.

South Korean former president Kim Dae-jung told the forum that
East Asia was emerging as a new economic bloc in the new era but
lacked solidarity compared to the European Union and the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Citing the yawning development gap among regional countries as
a key challenge he urged Asia, home to some 700 million of the
world's poor, to boost efforts to alleviate poverty because
"discontent and anger are bound to create a fertile ground for
terrorism and crime."

The forum was attended by foreign ministers from Malaysia,
Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines, officials from other member
countries, regional diplomats and businessmen.

ASEAN groups Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore,
Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines.