Quo vadis ASEAN, Indonesia?

Quo vadis ASEAN, Indonesia?

The economic crisis that hit member nations of ASEAN five
years ago and the change of government in Indonesia have loosened
the grouping's solidarity.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, for instance, are no longer
close to one another.

Solidarity and togetherness are important to ASEAN, as the
region is home to more than 500 million people.

The presence of China, South Korea, Japan and India at the
ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN-BIS), held at the
Nusa Dua tourist resort on Oct. 6 in Bali, reflects the
importance of the grouping.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, however, said trade
activities within ASEAN were still less than 25 percent, as most
ASEAN members preferred to set up trade ties with countries
outside the grouping.

Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said business
interests in ASEAN still faced obstacles in making investments as
the grouping had not adopted the basic principle of creating a
single market, not to mention the high-cost economies of its
member countries.

Indonesia, the host of the ASEAN-BIS meeting, should thus
learn from the shortcomings of the ASEAN trade activities and be
committed to creating good governance and clean government.

Indonesia, which has been identified as one of the world's
most corrupt countries, should launch an all-out campaign against
corruption; otherwise it will be remembered only as one of
ASEAN's five founding countries.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta