ASEAN leaders meeting in Thailand
Md. Masum Billah | Thursday, 5 March 2009
THE ten-member regional grouping has come a long way since the first ASEAN summit was held in Bangkok in 1995 and chaired by Banharn Sipa-archa. Its relevance now depends on how quickly it reacts to the challenges of the day. Its response to the economic downturn has been admirably well focused.
Thailand and the other countries making up ASEAN learned valuable lessons from the 1997 financial crisis, and the Chiang Mai Initiative -- a programme established in its wake to provide emergency funds to countries in turmoil -- was wisely put in place in May 2000.
In Puket, Thailand last weekend, the ASEAN finance ministers and their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea enlarged this fund to US$120 billion to help regional states cope with financial stress. The five most economically developed ASEAN members including Thailand will contribute 20% while the ASEAN's bigger neighbours will chip in 80%. Now the greatest priority must be given to making this fund operational.
The 570 million people of ASEAN have been awoken; they will demand their share, their ownership and their ride in the process. How they intend to manage this new reality is of crucial importance to all of the concerned countries and all those in the neighbourhood. The key is to work together to come up with ASEAN solutions to not only ASEAN problems but also the global challenges with regional implications. "The ASEAN peoples should be seen as partners in, and not obstacles to, the planned integration as enshrined in the ASEAN charters with the people as the cornerstone," said Prof Thitnan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkoru University.
There has also been fence-mending and confidence building, after all the political turmoil which delayed this ministerial meeting and also bruised Thailand's international image. The ministerial meeting in Puket, Thailand was followed by the one at the level of heads of government. A great deal of time at the previous summit in Singapore was devoted to the ASEAN Charter and the formation of a human rights body. The principal theme this year has been the global economic situation as it affects this region, notably the collapse of export markets and the spectre of mass unemployment. On a lesser note, there has been the setting of terms of reference for the ASEAN human rights body. Given the principle of non-interference in each other's affairs, it is, however, hard to see this ASEAN initiative wielding much clout. While ASEAN leaders have discussed in Puket the plight of the Rohingya boat people who come from Rakhine state in Burma, the issue would fail outside the human rights body's mandate.
The ASEAN leaders vowed last Sunday to stand firm against protectionism and knit the diverse region into a European Union(EU)-style community by 2015, despite the global economic crisis. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a statement released at the conclusion of its 14th annual meeting also called for a "bold and urgent reform of the international financial system" that would take into account the needs of the developing nations. The ASEAN leaders attending the meeting grappled with the region's economic woes in the face of the global crisis; they also sought to highlight ASEAN championship of human rights. But the issue suffered a setback when military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia refused to talk to two pro-democracy activists. The statement said the leaders "reaffirmed their commitments to implement measures adopted in ASEAN Economic Blueprint", calling for economic and some political and security integration by 2015 and adding that the scope for regional cooperation must be expanded.
The South East Asian leaders also pleaded for formation of a human rights body. But critics noted that the body which is expected to reign functioning later this year would lack the power to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanction. ASEAN has flowed a policy of so-called engagement with Myanmar and non-interference in its internal affairs. The military regime of Burma is the one who has been in discord with ASEAN ever since Yangon joined the regional body in 1997, said Debbie Stothard US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State with the human rights group ASEAN-Burma.
The meeting has been the first one since the group singed a landmark charter in December, making ASEAN a legal entity and moving it a step closer to its goal of integration. The charter also calls for adherence to basic freedoms and human rights. "For Myanmar, we continue to hope that because of the ASEAN charter and the forthcoming ASEAN human rights body, the ruling junta will immediately release Aung Sung Suu Kyi," the Philippine's Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said.
International meetings at the level of political leaders and ministers often create high expectations and give the impression that something vitally important is about to emerge from all the turbulences, but then comes the letdown in a bland final communique. This is not always a reason for despair. It contains hopes, also. (The writer is Senior Manager: BRAC Education Programme, PACE He may be reached at e-mail: [email protected])
An FT Syndication Service despatch by Tim Johnston in Hua Hin, Thailand adds: As south-east Asian leaders gathered late last week for their annual summit, the region's united front against protectionism was starting to crack under the pressure of the global economic crisis.
The fight against protectionism was at the top of the agenda at last weekend's meeting of the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations, which signed an agreement cutting tariffs and other barriers with Australia and New Zealand.
However, the leaders appeared far apart in pre-conference comments on the balance to be struck between sustaining open markets and promoting economic activity at home.
In the most forthright remarks, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister, said every country had the right to encourage its citizens to buy local products.
"I think it is a normal reaction under this kind of situation. First of all we have to protect our people; we are doing the same thing. If we do not create projects by Malaysia, for Malaysians, then who will buy our products?" Mr Badawi told the Bangkok Post newspaper.
Other leaders mounted a robust defence of freer trade. "I hope that Asean will send a signal that in this economic downturn it will not favour protectionism," Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai prime minister, said in a television broadcast.
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, said Asean might miss its target of establishing a regional economic community along the lines of the European Union by 2015 if member states failed to maintain open markets.
"In this global environment, if we give the impression that Asean is not fully open for business I think we will be the losers when the new landscape emerges," Mr Lee told CNBC.
Most of the regional economies have built their prosperity on the back of export growth, and the slowdown in the US, Europe and Japan has hit them hard.
"I think we all worry about protectionism, and not just from traditional channels," said Mari Pangestu, trade minister for Indonesia.
In spite of Mrs Pangestu's reservations, Indonesia is encouraging civil servants to buy Indonesian products, an echo of Barack Obama's Buy American campaign that angered so many both within and outside Asia.
Thailand and the other countries making up ASEAN learned valuable lessons from the 1997 financial crisis, and the Chiang Mai Initiative -- a programme established in its wake to provide emergency funds to countries in turmoil -- was wisely put in place in May 2000.
In Puket, Thailand last weekend, the ASEAN finance ministers and their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea enlarged this fund to US$120 billion to help regional states cope with financial stress. The five most economically developed ASEAN members including Thailand will contribute 20% while the ASEAN's bigger neighbours will chip in 80%. Now the greatest priority must be given to making this fund operational.
The 570 million people of ASEAN have been awoken; they will demand their share, their ownership and their ride in the process. How they intend to manage this new reality is of crucial importance to all of the concerned countries and all those in the neighbourhood. The key is to work together to come up with ASEAN solutions to not only ASEAN problems but also the global challenges with regional implications. "The ASEAN peoples should be seen as partners in, and not obstacles to, the planned integration as enshrined in the ASEAN charters with the people as the cornerstone," said Prof Thitnan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkoru University.
There has also been fence-mending and confidence building, after all the political turmoil which delayed this ministerial meeting and also bruised Thailand's international image. The ministerial meeting in Puket, Thailand was followed by the one at the level of heads of government. A great deal of time at the previous summit in Singapore was devoted to the ASEAN Charter and the formation of a human rights body. The principal theme this year has been the global economic situation as it affects this region, notably the collapse of export markets and the spectre of mass unemployment. On a lesser note, there has been the setting of terms of reference for the ASEAN human rights body. Given the principle of non-interference in each other's affairs, it is, however, hard to see this ASEAN initiative wielding much clout. While ASEAN leaders have discussed in Puket the plight of the Rohingya boat people who come from Rakhine state in Burma, the issue would fail outside the human rights body's mandate.
The ASEAN leaders vowed last Sunday to stand firm against protectionism and knit the diverse region into a European Union(EU)-style community by 2015, despite the global economic crisis. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a statement released at the conclusion of its 14th annual meeting also called for a "bold and urgent reform of the international financial system" that would take into account the needs of the developing nations. The ASEAN leaders attending the meeting grappled with the region's economic woes in the face of the global crisis; they also sought to highlight ASEAN championship of human rights. But the issue suffered a setback when military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia refused to talk to two pro-democracy activists. The statement said the leaders "reaffirmed their commitments to implement measures adopted in ASEAN Economic Blueprint", calling for economic and some political and security integration by 2015 and adding that the scope for regional cooperation must be expanded.
The South East Asian leaders also pleaded for formation of a human rights body. But critics noted that the body which is expected to reign functioning later this year would lack the power to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanction. ASEAN has flowed a policy of so-called engagement with Myanmar and non-interference in its internal affairs. The military regime of Burma is the one who has been in discord with ASEAN ever since Yangon joined the regional body in 1997, said Debbie Stothard US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State with the human rights group ASEAN-Burma.
The meeting has been the first one since the group singed a landmark charter in December, making ASEAN a legal entity and moving it a step closer to its goal of integration. The charter also calls for adherence to basic freedoms and human rights. "For Myanmar, we continue to hope that because of the ASEAN charter and the forthcoming ASEAN human rights body, the ruling junta will immediately release Aung Sung Suu Kyi," the Philippine's Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said.
International meetings at the level of political leaders and ministers often create high expectations and give the impression that something vitally important is about to emerge from all the turbulences, but then comes the letdown in a bland final communique. This is not always a reason for despair. It contains hopes, also. (The writer is Senior Manager: BRAC Education Programme, PACE He may be reached at e-mail: [email protected])
An FT Syndication Service despatch by Tim Johnston in Hua Hin, Thailand adds: As south-east Asian leaders gathered late last week for their annual summit, the region's united front against protectionism was starting to crack under the pressure of the global economic crisis.
The fight against protectionism was at the top of the agenda at last weekend's meeting of the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations, which signed an agreement cutting tariffs and other barriers with Australia and New Zealand.
However, the leaders appeared far apart in pre-conference comments on the balance to be struck between sustaining open markets and promoting economic activity at home.
In the most forthright remarks, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister, said every country had the right to encourage its citizens to buy local products.
"I think it is a normal reaction under this kind of situation. First of all we have to protect our people; we are doing the same thing. If we do not create projects by Malaysia, for Malaysians, then who will buy our products?" Mr Badawi told the Bangkok Post newspaper.
Other leaders mounted a robust defence of freer trade. "I hope that Asean will send a signal that in this economic downturn it will not favour protectionism," Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thai prime minister, said in a television broadcast.
Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore's prime minister, said Asean might miss its target of establishing a regional economic community along the lines of the European Union by 2015 if member states failed to maintain open markets.
"In this global environment, if we give the impression that Asean is not fully open for business I think we will be the losers when the new landscape emerges," Mr Lee told CNBC.
Most of the regional economies have built their prosperity on the back of export growth, and the slowdown in the US, Europe and Japan has hit them hard.
"I think we all worry about protectionism, and not just from traditional channels," said Mari Pangestu, trade minister for Indonesia.
In spite of Mrs Pangestu's reservations, Indonesia is encouraging civil servants to buy Indonesian products, an echo of Barack Obama's Buy American campaign that angered so many both within and outside Asia.