Indonesia proposes ASEAN-UN cooperation integration

Antara News, Friday, October 29, 2010 23:30 WIB

Hanoi, Vietnam (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has proposed the integration of cooperation between members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations to create measured and comprehensive cooperation.

"The President has proposed a concept to increase the UN-ASEAN relations to make it comprehensive as it has so far been sector," Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said after accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a ASEAN-UN summit at the National Conventional Center, here on Friday evening.

Marty said so far the ASEAN member countries only cooperated with UN missions individually. He said no integrated cooperation between ASEAN members and all the UN missions had been held so far.

In view of that he said Indonesia had suggested an integrated cooperation. That way, the ASEAN and the UN could build cooperation in various fields comprehensively.

Marty said the comprehensive and inter-sectoral cooperation would ease evaluation on every progress made or weaknesses found.

He said the idea was what Indonesia would promote during its ASEAN chairmanship in 2011.

"Just now the UN Secretary General responded it positively. So we will work to achieve it," he said.

President Yudhoyono attended the 3rd ASEAN-UN Summit at the National Conventional Center, flanked by Marty Natalegawa and Coordinating Minister for Economic affairs Hatta Radjasa.

Before the meeting all the ASEAN leaders and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held a group photo session. At the photo session President Yudhoyono stood between Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam.

The ASEAN-UN Summit was part of the 17th ASEAN Summit.