Najib: Asean+8 Which Includes US, Russia To Be Decided At Next Summit

Bernama, from Jamaluddin Muhammad

HANOI, April 9 (Bernama) -- Asean may decide whether to form the Asean+8, which includes the United States and Russia, at its next summit, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Friday.

He said Asean leaders would have to take into consideration the constraints and practical realities on the ability of leaders of the two superpowers to join the dialogue process.

"It could more or less affect (the dialogue) process if both leaders could not join the process pioneered by Asean even though the two countries have shown interest to participate," he said.

Speaking to reporters after attending the 16th Asean Summit at the National Convention Centre, here, Najib said Asean Foreign Ministers would study the matter in detail and that a decision might be made by leaders at the next summit.

"We are concerned with their level of representation and time allocation for the process.

"As we are aware, US President Barack Obama has committed to attending the Asean-US Summit this year but the schedule has yet to be determined until now. Obama's visit to Indonesia has been postponed three times," said Najib.

He said these issues had raised question whether the involvement of both leaders in the Asean process could be hindered by global political events and issues.

Asean, a 10-member grouping of Southeast Asian nations, comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.

Asean has established the Asean+6 with the addition of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand as their dialogue partners.

"The leaders discussed the proposal to expand Asean+6 into Asean+8 to include the US and Russia," he said.

Najib said if Asean wanted to expand the Asean+6, it should be on the basis of the two countries joining the dialogue process and not just accepting either one.

The prime minister also said he told his counterparts during the retreat session today that Malaysia was offering the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, near Kuala Lumpur, to be used as the region's disaster relief depot, saying the airport had good facilities and recognised by the World Food Programme.

He said the Asean Disaster Relief Management Committee could use the airport for the purpose.

On Myanmar, Najib said the leaders stressed that the country's process towards democracy should be transparent, fair, inclusive and could not be disputed by the local as well as the international community.

"Malaysia and several Asean member countries have offered expertise in conducting election process for Myanmar," he said.

Najib said that the leaders shared the same sentiment that Myanmar's democratic process could contribute to the regional grouping as a whole.

He said the leaders agreed that Asean must continue to play the centrality role and be the thrust for the regional architecture in line with its aspiration towards creating an Asean Community by 2015.

On sustained economic recovery and development, Najib said the leaders stressed on the importance of economic integration within Asean, develop Asean connectivity and reduce development gap between member countries.

Najib said he stressed on the importance of the grouping to develop green technology so that it could contribute to a sustainable economic recovery in Asean.

On climate change, he said, developed countries had not done enough in terms of cutting carbon emission or contributing to the fund to help developing countries to implement intiatives to tackle the issue.

-- BERNAMA

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