Give Asean Wants To Play Bigger Role

Mysinchew.com, 2009-03-31 15:17

Let's shake on it: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meets British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street in central London on Tuesday (AP Photo/Leon Neal)

Asean should be given more active role to coordinate regional strategies to resolve regional challenges amid the global economic crisis, Secretary General of Asean Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday.

Surin, who is attending the G-20 London Summit on Thursday, told ANN in an interview that it is a rare opportunity for the Asean chair to attend such a summit “when the global community is being faced with such formidable challenges as now.”

“It is rather encouraging to all of us in Asean to be given such an opportunity to participate in the highest level of the global community in search of the global solutions to all the global challenges,” Surin said. “I hope that this will be the beginning of a new era of regional organizations playing a global role.”

As the Asean chair, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who arrived here Monday evening, will speak on behalf of Asean on Thursday. He has been coordinating with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over the issues to be raised since February. They are scheduled to meet on Wednesday ahead of the summit. Asean and its dialogue partners China, Japan and Korea also will speak with one voices on the necessity to reform international financial systems to make them more equity.

Surin pointed out that Asean can offer a model of regional cooperation that has helped stabilize a diverse region, achieve a continued economic growth, integrate economies of various levels of development and enhance prosperity and security of the region for the past 4 decades.

“The grouping can take part in the efforts to redesign a new landscape for the global economic system post-crisis. It will be a multi polar growth,” he said adding that East Asia will be one such pillar and Asean can be the cornerstone of that regional growth pillar of East Asia.

But to achieve these objectives, he reiterated that Asean must be forceful to go against protectionism of all shades by lowering tariff and non-tariff barriers among its members.

“In fact, one reason why Asean was invite to London summit has been its track record of regional cooperation and sustained economic growth and prosperity and stability achieved through such cooperation. We can be an example to other regions,” he said.

Looking forward in the post G-20 summit, the Asean chief said that coordinated efforts based on the summit’s outcome must be fully carried out by all including the international community at large.

Resources must be mobilized for such international financial institutions like the World Bank, the IMF and regional development banks, according to Surin.

“And if regional mechanisms for financial cooperation and economic coordination could be created, it would be a healthy development, strengthening regional development cooperation and governance for the benefit of the regions.”

At the Asean summit in Cha-am/Hua Hin, the Asean leaders reaffirm their determinations to ensure free flows of goods and services. They also stood firm against the protectionism. (By KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN/ ANN)

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