Stability vital for SE Asia: Brunei, Philippine leaders
Stability vital for SE Asia: Brunei, Philippine leaders
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP): The leaders of Brunei and the
Philippines, both claimants to the disputed Spratlys island
chain, have stressed the need for solidarity to fuel economic
growth in Southeast Asia.
"If there are no major upsets to the stability and security of
the region, all countries in the region will thrive and prosper,"
Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said as he hosted a banquet for
visiting Philippine President Fidel Ramos late Saturday.
Ramos said peace and stability were paramount if Southeast
Asian countries are to exploit, collectively, each other's
advantages for regional prosperity.
He singled out the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA) linking his
country's south with Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia, as an
example where "peace and stability must underpin our labors for
sustained development to be achieved."
The four countries together with Thailand and Singapore make
up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Oil-rich Brunei, the Philippines and Malaysia lay claim, in
whole or part, to the Spratlys -- viewed by analysts as the next
source of regional conflict - along with China, Taiwan and
Vietnam.
All claimants, except for Brunei, have stationed troops on the
Spratlys, a strategically-located and reputedly oil-rich
archipelago in the South China Sea.
Regional goals
Ramos, who held talks with Sultan Hassanal on his arrival
Saturday for a three-day state visit, said the ASEAN Regional
Forum, which held its first meeting in Bangkok recently, could
help reduce tension and resolve conflicts in the region.
The forum groups ASEAN with its dialog partners, Australia,
Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United States and
the European Union and invited guests China, Laos, Papua New
Guinea, Russia and Vietnam.
Sultan Hassanal said that while nations in Southeast Asia must
pool their resources to achieve regional goals, they needed to
retain their differences in cultural and social structures.
"Our bilateral relations will be better if the leaders, and
especially the media, of Southeast Asian countries recognize
these differences and treat them with sensitivity," he said.
On the EAGA, Sultan Hassanal said Brunei wanted to serve as an
international gateway into this growth area, with a population of
nearly 30 million people.
The EAGA, formally established in March as an ASEAN
initiative, groups the economies of Brunei, East and West
Kalimantan and North Sulawesi in Indonesia, the states of Sabah
and Sarawak and the offshore financial center of Labuan in
eastern Malaysia and the southern Philippines.