Vientiane, the apex of ASEAN summits

S. Pushpanathan , Jakarta

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian (ASEAN) will soon be descending on Laos, a new member country of ASEAN, for the 10th ASEAN Summit on Monday and Tuesday. Their East Asian counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea will join them at the ASEAN Plus Three Summit, and individually at the ASEAN Plus One summits. There, ASEAN leaders will also meet their counterparts from India and for the second time the leaders of Australia and New Zealand. The last ASEAN-Australia and ASEAN-New Zealand were held in 1977 in Malaysia.

The 10th ASEAN Summit will be one of the most significant ASEAN meetings. Delegates will be witness to the participation of several new ASEAN leaders such as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Malaysia's Abdullah Badawi and Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong. It also will see the participation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has won a new term in office and will be the first time Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attends an ASEAN-India Summit. Prime Minister John Howard, meanwhile, is attending the meetings shortly after a resounding election victory while the ASEAN-New Zealand meeting will be a first for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.

At the summit, ASEAN leaders are expected to focus on the building of the ASEAN Community, especially the three pillars of the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) as espoused in the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II (Bali Concord II) of 2003. They are expected to adopt the plans of action to implement the ASC and the ASCC and sign a framework agreement on integration in priority economic sectors.

The leaders are also expected to sign a successor plan, the Vientiane Action Programme, to the Hanoi Plan of Action to continue the implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2020 adopted in 1997 and the Bali Concord II. They are expected to reiterate their commitment to the continued implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) to further close the development gaps through concerted ASEAN efforts and in collaboration with ASEAN's dialog partners. The leaders are also likely to touch on the regional and international issues of the day and dwell on deepening East Asia cooperation and work with other dialog partners.

If the Bali Summit in 2003 represented the conceptualization of the ASEAN Community with three legs, the Vientiane Summit symbolizes the building of the prototype of the ASEAN Community with the three legs powered by an engine of commitment, sharing and caring, and the oneness of members.

Two more nations are expected to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia to become ASEAN dialog partners, after China and India signed the treaty in October last year and Japan and Pakistan signed in June. Russia and South Korea are expected to sign the TAC in Vientiane.

With South Korea's accession, political and security cooperation among ASEAN Plus Three Countries would receive a shot in the arm because China, Japan and South Korea would now be key players in the formulation of ASEAN external relations. This would augur well for ASEAN Plus Three cooperation and all members could set their sights toward building an East Asian community over the longer-term.

Russia's accession to the TAC will be a significant development for ASEAN-Russia dialog relations. It will mark the beginning of the consolidation phase of the partnership, which is expected to culminate in a summit next year in Malaysia pending the decision of ASEAN leaders in Vientiane. With Russia onboard, two of the nuclear weapon states and UN Security Council members will have joined the TAC, which would further ensure the peace and stability in the region and provide it with extra voices in the United Nations and other international fora.

Economic integration is set to take off with the signing of several protocols in priority sectors agreed to earlier by ASEAN economic ministers, which will include the automotive, electronic, air travel, health care, apparel, and e-ASEAN industries. This integration will be aided by the signing of an enhanced dispute-settlement mechanism. The implementation of the protocols will be a crucial step in the process of building an AEC by 2020.

The ASEAN Plus Three Summit, to be held immediately after the 10th ASEAN Summit, will review the progress in ASEAN Plus Three cooperation and the implementation of the 26 measures proposed by the East Asia Study Group (EASG) to strengthen East Asia cooperation, which were adopted by the ASEAN Plus Three Leaders in 2002. The leaders are also expected to touch on the East Asian community and the convening of an East Asia Summit (EAS) at an appropriate time. In this regard, Malaysia has offered to host the first EAS.

The 10th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane promises to be one of the most significant events in ASEAN's calendar for 2004. It will be remembered for providing the infrastructure to build the ASEAN Community and forging closer and strategic relations with the ASEAN Plus Three countries and India. It will be also be a summit where all Laotians, as well as the other new member countries of ASEAN, will be able to tackle issues such as development gaps and poverty. Most importantly, it is one that can inject a family spirit among the members as they take ASEAN to next level of community building. The Vientiane Summit will go down in history as one of ASEAN's summit of summits.

The writer is Plus Three Relations and external relations head in the ASEAN Secretariat. The views expressed are personal.