Preparations completed for ASEAN meetings: RI

Preparations completed for ASEAN meetings: RI

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post

Without much fanfare, Indonesia, the current chair of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has completed its
preparations for the success of a series of regional meetings, in
which 25 ministers and over 475 officials from ASEAN as well as
15 other countries will participate.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organizer of the meetings,
said that the series would kick off on Saturday with the ASEAN
Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), and would continue until Monday.
This would be followed by the 37th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
(AMM), the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs) and ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF).

The AMM will take place from June 29 to June 30, PMCs on July
1, while the ARF will be held on July 2, three days before
Indonesia's first direct presidential elections.

"Preparations are going well, both in terms of substance as
well as logistical matters relating to the hosting of such a big
meeting," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty A.
Natalegawa told The Jakarta Post. on Friday.

As far as substance is concerned, Indonesia has prepared an
extensive agenda for the meetings as well as the necessary
documentation, while Jakarta is also ready to facilitate the
meeting, said Marty.

He said that his office had received confirmation from all 23
ministers and Pakistani Foreign Minister Kurshid Mahmood Kasuri,
who is a new member of the top regional security grouping, about
their participation in the annual ARF ministerial meeting.

During their meeting on July 2, all 23 members of ARF will
admit Pakistan as its 24th member.

Marty said that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will
arrive late in Jakarta because of his engagements in Turkey, Iraq
and Sudan.

The ARF is the only regional security forum in Asia, a region
with little history of security cooperation. It comprises the 10
ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and
their 13 dialog partners (the U.S., European Union, China, India,
Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea).

Since its establishment in 1994, the ASEAN-driven ARF has made
modest gains in building a sense of strategic community and
allowed the development of a consensus approach on major security
issues such as terrorism, North Korea, Myanmar and South China
Sea.

East Timor Foreign Minister Ramos Horta will attend as a guest
of the host at the 37th AMM and as an observer at the ARF
meeting.

All the meetings will be held at the Jakarta Convention
Center.

It looks certain that the organizers will face a big problem:
How to deal with an army of about 500 journalists, from both the
print and electronic media?

Surprisingly, the total number of delegates and registered
journalists are equal.

"As of today (Thursday), we have received registration forms
from more than 360 foreign journalists, mostly from Japan," Lutfi
Rauf, director for information and media at the foreign ministry,
told the Post.

"About 100 local journalists have also registered to cover the
series of conferences," he said.

The journalists may surpass the 500 mark once the meetings
begin.

To facilitate the media -- as most sessions will be held in
closed-door meetings -- the ministry is planning to hold regular
press briefings immediately after the meetings, said Lutfi.

The AMM will have on the agenda a draft plan of action for the
ASEAN Security Community (ASC) concept. The 10 ASEAN ministers
also hope to sign a declaration on the elimination of violence
against women in the region.

The ASC idea was initiated by Indonesia as a means of handling
security matters and disputes through a regional framework rather
than bilaterally or through international forums.

During the PMCs, the ASEAN foreign ministers will meet their
counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Russia, the
European Union and the U.S.

A glimpse of the tentative list of documents to be issued at
the meetings shows that Pakistan, Japan and the Russian
Federation are slated to sign ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation (TAC).

The treaty governs relations among members of ASEAN and says
political and security cooperation should aim to promote regional
peace and stability.

The ARF meeting is slated to discuss regional issues like
terrorism, security in the Strait of Malacca, Myanmar and North
Korea.

The forum is expected to issue documents such as the ARF
statement on strengthening transport security against
international terrorism and a statement on nonproliferation.