Severino installed as new ASEAN secretary-general

JAKARTA (JP): Rodolfo C. Severino took over the reigns as Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) yesterday saying that the group faces new challenges never before seen in its 30-year history.

In his address at yesterday's transfer of office ceremony here, Severino said ASEAN was undergoing a period of transition.

"But a transition, like this season, is also time for renewal.

"ASEAN is faced with challenges such as it has not faced before... the challenge of enlargement, the challenge of scope, the challenge of integration and the challenge of identity," said Severino who replaces Malaysian Dato' Ajit Singh.

Severino, 61, has carved himself a distinguished diplomatic career, holding a number of important posts in the Philippines foreign office. For the past six years he has been Philippine Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Policy, which oversaw ASEAN- related matters.

Yesterday's ceremonies, while still somewhat ebullient, were held under a dark cloud shaking the economic success which was a hallmark of ASEAN member states.

The currency crisis has severely damaged the economies of most ASEAN founding members causing a fall in their domestic currencies.

Born in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta.

Ajit Singh, 60, began his five-year term in 1993 as the first elected secretary-general of the group. Prior to him, the position was rotational.

But the reality of the economic crisis was not lost on yesterday's ceremony as Severino said that recent events demonstrated the imperative of approaching ASEAN cooperation in an integrated manner.

"No longer can we separate finance from commercial and investment concerns, nor the environment or science and technology from the demands of economic growth," he said.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, whom Severino described as a mentor and guide to the ASEAN Secretariat, also highlighted the "great strain" on ASEAN economies which "have taken a severe blow".

But Alatas maintained that ASEAN has been through worse and therefore should be able to overcome the current crisis.

"The situation in the region is not half as bleak as it was at the time of ASEAN's founding more than 30 years ago, when a war was raging in Indochina and the rest of us in Southeast Asia, nursing a hangover from ancient conflicts and recent disputes between and among ourselves, were in the midst of political upheaval aggravated by economic underdevelopment," Alatas said.

"Like all crises, the one we face today has two sides: peril and opportunity. Let us squarely face this crisis, making full use of our unique resources, tame the peril and seize the opportunity.

"This means renewal. We in ASEAN are called upon today to make that renewal," he added.

Both Alatas and Severino spoke highly of Ajit Singh who has now retired from the foreign service and will soon return home to Malaysia.

Alatas described the former secretary-general tenure as highly successful while Severino said his predecessor left him a "priceless legacy not only to me but to Southeast Asia".

Ajit Singh, known to many as being a consummate bureaucrat, said the Secretariat should be satisfied with its work over the past five years which he called "truly eventful".

"This is not goodbye ASEAN. It's a fond adieu. I am sure our paths will cross again," he said. (mds)