Vientiane, the apex of ASEAN summits

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.