News focus: RI wants to push ASEAN dialogs with civil society

By Andi Abdussalam 

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has expressed strong desire to push ASEAN member countries to have dialogs with the civil society within the region and to establish a human rights body in an effort to improve the image of the regional grouping. 

"Indonesia highly expects that ASEAN would be ready to enter this field, to have a dialog with, listen to and share views with the civil society, something which concerns human rights, the environment and equitable development," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after attending the 14th ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand on Sunday. 

Indonesia also has the commitment to actively encourage the formation of an ASEAN human rights body although many parties have doubted ASEAN commitment to create a credible human rights body. 

"Indonesia has been very serious since the beginning to encourage the formation of this ASEAN human rights body. Indonesia has done everything to set an example that we are pursuing not only welfare but also respect for the rule of law, the promotion of human rights, and freedom including freedom of the press," The president said. 

Cambodia and Myanmar during the ASEAN summit objected to the electoral procedures of Civil Society representatives who were to have dialogs with ASEAN leaders. 

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda could understand the objection of Cambodian and Myanmarese governments on electoral procedures of Civil Society representatives. 

"It is true that Cambodia tendered their objection to the procedure on the appointment of representatives of Civil Society of a certain country. It`s quite logic," he said. 

The minister said Cambodian government complained about it because the country concerned was not involved in appointing representatives of civil society group who will have dialogue with heads of states/governments of ASEAN. 

According to Yudhoyono, ASEAN should be ready based on its charter to have a dialog with, listen to and share views with the civil society in an effort to abolish its elitism image. 

"We have to listen to them and that is actually the spirit of the ASEAN charter where ASEAN should show that it is no longer elitist but cares for not only matters of government but also civil matters in all ASEAN nations," he said. 

He said that dialogs and communications with the civil society were part of the process for ASEAN in implementing the ASEAN charter.

"I don`t want to comment too further about the technical, procedural and mechanism of the elections of the civil society representatives. 

Thailand, in its capacity as host and as the ASEAN secretary general, has of course made preparations about it," Yudhoyono added. 

The objection of Cambodia and Myanmar to the selection mechanism of the civil society representatives in the 14th ASEAN summit should be taken as a lesson for the next ASEAN summit. 

Indonesia really hopes that the process in the future would proceed smoothly. 

Besides pushing ASEAN to have dialogs with civil society groups, Indonesia also hopes that the regional grouping -- which consisted of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam? would soon form a human rights body. 

Indonesia would be very active to get the ASEAN human rights body formed not merely to promote the ASEAN image but also to create balance and harmony between law enforcement, freedom and peace. 

"But of course we must keep in mind that the basic freedom of every human being must be respected and highly upheld and must serve as part of the development of ASEAN community in the future," the president said. 

The president said ASEAN was serious about creating a credible human rights body although the condition of its member countries was different from one another. 

"Of course, the condition of Indonesia is different from that of Myanmar and other ASEAN members. Therefore, transition, adaptation and adjustment are needed. And the change which is often successful is a gradual but steady one. 

On the economic crisis, Indonesia was of the view that there is no panacea that could be used to resolve instantly the impact of the current global financial crisis. 

"With regard to regional cooperation to minimize the impact of the economic crisis, there is indeed no panacea or solution that could instantly resolve the problem. We all are aware of this. All advanced countries are affected. Their markets become gloomy. Our exports are therefore disrupted and a number of problems are now facing all nations, including ASEAN," the president said. 

All countries, including Indonesia, have done the best they could. Indonesia has done its best to contribute efforts to minimizing the impact of the financial crisis, both at regional level in ASEAN and at multilateral level in the G-20 forum. 

"All countries wanted to do their best so that the global economic crisis would not worsen, instead the recession would eventually stop so that the world economy would revive," President Yudhoyono said. 

However, all of the efforts are not without limitations so that regional and multilateral cooperation are being made, the president said. 

In order to help cope with the financial crisis, Indonesia has proposed three levels of cooperation schemes in the G-20 forum in the United States last year. 

"The three levels of cooperation schemes are cooperation in the multilateral level, cooperation in the regional level and cooperation in the national level," he said. 

At the regional level, Indonesia worked together with ASEAN to establish the Chiang Mai Initiative. ASEAN also agreed to increase intra-economic cooperation in the trade and investment fields and agreed not to adopt protectionism. 

Indonesia in its capacity as chairman of the Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT GT) and the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippine East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP EAGA), has specifically proposed that sub-regional cooperation should provide stimuli packages for infrastructure development

RI, Pakistan agree to broaden PTA agreement

Hua Hin (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Pakistan have reached  agreement to increase the number of commodities to be covered in their Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said here over the weekend. 

"Previously PTA talks between the two countries focused on a reduction of import duty on Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) exported to Pakistan and on Pakistan's 'kino' oranges exported to Indonesia," the trade minister said on the sidelines of the 14th ASEAN summit in the resort city of Hua Hin, some 200 km from Bangkok. 

The minister said that Indonesia agreed to cut its import duty on Pakistan's orange exports in return for its import duty cut on Indonesia's CPO exports. 

"But Pakistan also asked for an exchange of import duty cuts on other commodities besides on the CPO and oranges," the minister said. 

She said Indonesia would therefore also ask for the lowering of the import duty on its exports of other commodities such as paper while Pakistan would also propose other types of commodities. 

"Because we asked for additional types of commodities, they also asked the same thing," she said. 

The minister said that both sides were still negotiating tens of commodity tariff headings that still needed further agreements before the PTA was signed. 

"We hope that agreements on these would be reached sooner because Malaysia has been enjoying a preferential tariff on its CPO exports," she said. 

The PTA negations between Indonesia and Pakistan were expected to be completed last year but due to the change in the government leadership in that country, the talks could be resumed only last month. 

During the on-going talks on PTA, Pakistan has agreed to lower its import duty on Indonesia's CPO exports, including its by-products, by 10 percent. 

In return, Indonesia agreed to lower its import duty on Pakistan's 'kino' orange exports. 

The agreement is badly needed by Indonesian CPO exporters. Indonesia's CPO exports to Pakistan are relatively high, reaching US$400 million per annum.

Downturn hits Philippine remittances

By Jill McGivering, BBC News, Manila 

In the Philippines, about eight million people - one in 10 adults - work abroad.

Millions of families depend on the money they send back.

But now a crisis is looming - as the economic downturn means thousands are losing their jobs overseas and being sent home.

The Philippines is home, but has never offered enough work

Migrant workers are called "the new heroes" in the Philippines because of the contribution they make to the national economy.

The money they send home to their relatives is crucial, paying for food, shelter and education.

But now a growing number - already in the thousands - are being forced home because they have lost their jobs.

Laid-off

Rowena is typical. She is 28 and found work last year as a factory supervisor in Taiwan. 

She has already supported her brother through school. She also hoped to save enough to get married.

But in December, just seven months into a two-year contract, she and all her fellow Filipino workers were laid off.

"My plans are shattered and broken," she said. "I spent so much on placement fees before going to Taiwan and I've not earned back the expenses. Honestly I'm shocked."

Rowena is now staying in a hostel in Manila run by a Christian charity, "Scalabrini". Its 80 dormitory beds are all taken.

When I visited, many were out at government offices, filing applications to go abroad. Others played chess in the shade or badminton in the hot white-washed courtyard.

A Biblical text was painted in large black letters along one wall, reading: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me."     

Brother Luis Andres Maya, who runs the hostel, says he has noticed a sudden rise in recent months in the number of migrants being sent home without finishing their contracts.

"Many factories are closing and the first ones sent back are the Filipinos," he said. "Families are now having a very difficult time. They're worried they'll have to stop sending the children to school. They depend on the salaries sent from abroad."

High hopes

The competition to go overseas is increasingly fierce. Last year almost 1.4 million people went to work abroad, an increase of nearly a third on the previous year.

I visited the multi-storey offices of the Philippines Overseas Employment Agency, a government department which processes applications.

The corridors bustled with men and women of all ages. Many were attending the agency's daily seminars which advise would-be migrants about their rights in other countries and cover all sorts of crises, including death.

I joined a group of more than 50 locals sitting in rows on plastic chairs in a white-walled classroom. The tutor urged them to be good ambassadors for their country and to send money home to their families.

Ludy Lhour Tria, 30, was one of them. The next day, she told me, she was flying out to London to work as a technician in the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel.

It is her second overseas post and she admitted that working abroad involved a lot of personal sacrifice - emotional and physical.

But the money made it impossible not to go. In the UK, she said, she could earn 10 or 12 times as much as in the Philippines.

"I can support my nieces and nephews," she said, "and my parents who are old now and dependent on me."

Celerina Avedilla, 45, was about to leave for Spain, to work as a domestic helper.

It was hard, she said, leaving behind her husband and four children, one as young as 11. But the family had debts.

A few years overseas was the only way she could pay them off and then save to send her sons to college.

The hopes of these new migrants stand in stark contrast with the sadder stories told by those now being sent home.

Oliver, a gently-spoken man with a round face, told me he had spent most of his adult life working abroad, first in factories in Taiwan, then as an assistant cook on a Greek-owned merchant ship.

In December, the entire crew of 50, including the captain, were told to pack their bags. Oliver was less than three months into a new contract and is now unable to support his wife and nine-month old son.

"I don't know where to find money for milk and food for my wife," he toldme. "It feels so bad."

ASEAN urges dialogue partners to finalize dates for related summits

www.chinaview.cn  2009-03-01 16:49:57        

HUA HIN, Thailand, March 1 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN leaders urged their relevant dialogue partners on Sunday to work towards finalizing the dates for the related summits. 

In the Chairman's Statement of the 14th ASEAN Summit, ASEAN leaders said they supported Thailand's proposal to convene the summits with six dialogue partners, namely China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, and East Asia Summit on April 10-12, 2009 in Thailand. 

It is first time that the summit is being held in two parts. 

"We also considered the broadening of participation in these summits so as to mobilize the resources of the Asian community, the International Financial Institutions and the United Nations system to tackle the global economic and financial crisis," said the Chairman's statement. 

The 14th summit, originally scheduled for December in Bangkok, was postponed because of street protests there and moved to Thailand's royal seaside resort of Hua Hin. 

The turmoil last year in Thailand including street violence and the seizure of Bangkok's two international airports by protesters forced the postponement of the summit. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967. Its member states are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Hungary warns of new European economic 'Iron Curtain'

The Jakarta Post, Constant Brand, The Associated Press, Brussels | Sun, 03/01/2009 8:21 PM 

 

Euro ideas: Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek waits for EU leaders during arrivals for an EU summit in Brussels, Sunday. With their economies tanking and finances fraying, EU leaders meet Sunday keen to show that they will stick together and work on ideas of how to put the recession behind them. AP/Geert Vanden Wijngaert
 

Hungary warned the European Union not to let a new economic "Iron Curtain" divide the continent and urged the 27 EU leaders meeting Sunday to act so the bloc's weakest members don't go under in the global economic crisis. 

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said the credit crunch is hitting poorer, eastern member states the hardest. The Hungarian leader called for a special EU fund of up to euro190 billion ($241 billion) to help restore trust and solvency in eastern EU members' financial markets. 

"We should not allow that a new Iron Curtain should be set up and divide Europe," Gyurcsany told reporters. "In the beginning of the nineties we reunified Europe, now the challenge is whether we will be able to reunify Europe financially." 

EU nations are all grappling with a worsening recession, compounded by a severe credit crunch that has left many EU countries looking ever more inward to protect jobs and companies from international competition. Those policies are now undermining the open market cornerstone on which the EU is founded. 

Ahead of the summit, the leaders of nine countries - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania and the three Baltic states - forged a common stand to pressure richer members to back up vague pledges of support with action. 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the nine leaders called for "a spirit against protectionism and egoism." 

Hungary, Poland and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania also want the EU to fast-track their bids to join the euro-currency, which could offer them a stable financial anchor. Latvia's government has already collapsed amid the economic fallout. 

Other EU members, like Sweden, want to coordinate a Europe-wide bailout plan for car producers. 

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency, has called on his counterparts to act together. 

A draft summit conclusion centered on the need to reconfirm their commitment to "make the maximum possible use" of the EU's cherished free market "as the engine for recovery." 

Topolanek said the EU does "not want any new dividing lines. We do not want a Europe divided along a North-South or an East-West line, pursuing a beggar-thy-neighbour policy is unacceptable." 

The crisis has sorely tested solidarity among EU nations. 

The Czech Republic has accused France of trying to protect its local car plants at the expense of foreign subsidiaries, while Germany, the EU's economic powerhouse, has rejected calls to help bail out economies in Ireland, Greece and Portugal. 

Sunday's talks are meant to restore a unified purpose and help prepare for the April 2 Group of 20 nations summit in London. 

Once-booming east European economies have been hit hard by the economic downturn. As cheap credit dried up their export markets shrank, causing eastern currencies to sink and triggering more financial turmoil. 

Gyurcsany said eastern EU countries could need up to euro300 billion ($380 billion), or 30 percent of the region's gross domestic production this year. 

He warned that failure to offer bigger bailouts "could lead to massive contractions" in their economies and lead to "large-scale defaults" that would affect Europe as a whole. It could also trigger political unrest and immigration pressures as jobless rates soar, he said. 

EU governments have already spent euro300 billion ($380 billion) in bank recapitalizations and put up euro2.5 trillion ($3.18 trillion) to guarantee loans of many banks in the EU and neighboring states. 

On Friday, the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank said they will jointly provide euro24.5 billion ($31.1 billion) in emergency aid to shore up the battered finances of eastern European nations.

Related Article:

Merkel rejects bailout plan for eastern EU nations

ASEAN vows to stand firm against protectionism

The Jakarta Post, Jocelyn Gecker, The Associated Press, Cha-Am, Thailand | Sun, 03/01/2009 11:21 AM 
 

 ASEAN toast: Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (left to right), Laos' Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, Malayisan Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi toast during the 14th ASEAN Summit closing ceremonies in Cha-am, Thailand, on Sunday. AP/Sakchai Lalit

Southeast Asian leaders vowed Sunday to stand firm against protectionism and knit the diverse region into a European Union-style community by 2015 despite the global economic downturn. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in a statement released at the conclusion of its 14th annual summit, also called for "bold and urgent reform of the international financial system" that would take into account the needs of developing nations. 

The summit delegates grappled with the region's economic woes in the face of the global crisis but also aimed to highlight ASEAN's championship of human rights. Instead, the issue suffered a setback when military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia refused to talk to two prodemocracy activists. 

The statement said the leaders "reaffirmed their commitment to implement measures adopted in the ASEAN Economic Blueprint," which calls for economic and some political and security integration by 2015, adding that the scope for regional cooperation must be expanded. 

ASEAN's goal of forming a single market mainly involves lifting trade barriers but not, at this point, adopting a common currency. 

"They agreed to stand firm against protectionism and to refrain from introducing and raising new barriers," the statement said. 

Philippine Trade Secretary Peter Favila told The Associated Press there was reluctance to push ahead with the goal to drop all trade barriers by 2015. 

"Some ministers during unofficial discussions on the sidelines were saying that in the light of the global meltdown, of course local industries were affected," he said. "But those are just sentiments. You know everybody has to follow the leaders' instructions: Do it by 2015." 

Summit delegates also worked on the formation of a human rights body, but critics noted that the body, expected to begin functioning later this year, would lack power to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanctions. ASEAN has followed a policy of so-called engagement with Myanmar and noninterference in its internal affairs. 

Saturday's incident - when leaders from Cambodia and Myanmar threatened to walk out rather than meet prodemocracy activists invited to the talks - proved a ready-made example of ASEAN's impotence in regulating human rights. 

Calling it "unfortunate", US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel noted nobody has yet come forth with a strategy to reform Myanmar's entrenched military regime. 

"The sanctions-based approach hasn't worked, the ASEAN engagement approach hasn't worked," Marciel said, reiterating recent comments by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state. "The fact is there isn't any obvious way ahead." 

"The military regime of Burma is the one who has been sabotaging ASEAN ever since they joined in 1997," said Debbie Stothard with the human rights group ALTSEAN-Burma. 

The summit is the first since the group signed 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 that, among other things, they immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi," Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said, referring to Myanmar's prodemocracy leader who has been in detention for most of the last 19 years. 

ASEAN's 10 members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

ASEAN, which encompasses a region of more than 500 million people, includes two communist regimes, two constitutional monarchies, a military dictatorship and democracies.

Thailand objects to RI measures

Lilian Budianto, THE JAKARTA POST, Cha-Am, Thailand | Sat, 02/28/2009 11:12 AM  

Thailand's commerce minister raised Friday objections during the 14th ASEAN Summit about a new Indonesian regulation that restricts imports in five key cate-gories to five ports only 

"We have raised the issue of restrictions on imports to Indonesia's trade minister *Mari Elka Pangestu* at our bilateral meeting just now, with concerns that this could affect our bilateral trade," said Thai Commerce Minister Porntiva Nagasai during a press conference. "Minister Mari has told me that she would look into this matter soon." 

The Indonesian Trade Ministry issued a regulation late last year to control imports of food and beverages, textiles and garments, footwear, electronics and children's toys. 

Under that ministry regulation, imports of goods in these categories may only enter the Indonesian market through Belawan Port in Medan, North Sumatra, Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, Tanjung Emas Port in Semarang, Central Java, Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya, East Java, and in Makassar, South Sulawesi, as well as all international airports. 

Imports of food and beverages, meanwhile, may also enter through Dumai Port in Riau. Imports through ports other than those named will be declared illegal. 

Mari said the regulation was imposed to crack down on illegal products. It has raised objections from several countries, including the United States, which deemed the measure "protectionism". US Ambassador to ASEAN Scot A. Marciel said recently that Washington would also discuss the new regulation with Indonesia. 

Porntiva did not mention how significant the impact of the restrictions had been to Thai exports to Indonesia. Thailand exports automotive parts and food products to ASEAN countries. Krisda Piampongsan, spokesman for the Thai Commerce Ministry, said that although the ministry had yet to be provided with complete data on how bad the impact was on the local industry, "it put significant pressure on Thai exports to Indonesia". 

"We are an exporter of almost 500 items stated in the list of products affected by the regulation," he said. 

Mari said Indonesia also expressed concern about a number of "protective" measures by the Thai government that had affected Indonesian exports to the country. 

"They have got their own issues and so do we. We are in discussions to address all those problems," she said. 

Indonesia and Thailand have both agreed to boost trade and investment in the automotive, fisheries and halal food product sectors in a bid to increase trade among ASEAN members at a time when exports to the bloc's main trading partners of the United States and Japan are on the decline, thanks to the global finance crisis. 

Indonesian exports to Thailand stood at US$3.2 billion in the first 10 months of 2008 and its imports from Thailand were at $5.5 billion. 

ASEAN member states have taken their own measures to protect their domestic markets, including Thailand, which has called on people to use cash initiatives to buy local products. Indonesian Industry Minister Fahmi Idris also recently called on the country's civil servants to buy local products in a ministerial decree that will be issued in the near future amid shrinking export demand.

Civil Society Representatives Challenge Asean Leaders on Burma

By WAI MOE, The Irrawaddy, Saturday, February 28, 2009 

CHA-AM, Thailand — Burmese issues were raised once again at the 14th Asean Summit in Cha-am, Thailand, this time at Saturday’s midday meeting between representatives of Southeast Asian civil society and the 10 heads of state of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). 

The meeting—termed “historic” by Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan because it was the first time Asean leaders had scheduled a face-to-face meeting with civil society groups—was threatened with a boycott by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Burmese premier Gen Thein Sein because they did not agree with the participation of certain members of the civil society grouping. 

The matter was resolved at the 11th hour when two civil society representatives—including Burma’s Khin Ohmar of the Network for Democracy and Development—were barred from attending the meeting. 

“This afternoon’s interface meeting between the 10 Asean leaders and civil society groups spread doubt whether the Asean is ready to make Article 1 of the Asean Charter on civil society participation come into reality,” said a press release by three civil society activists, including Khin Ohmar. 

But the 20-minute meeting was most notable for the united stance by the civil society representatives against policies of the Burmese military government. 

Speaking to The Irrawaddy after the meeting, Wathshlah G. Naidu of Malaysia-based International Women’s Rights Action Watch—Asia Pacific said, “We raised the issue of political participation [in Burma]. We raised the issue of the political [opposition] leadership in Burma being detained and we raised the issue of the illegal constitution.” 

She said that the civic group had called for the release of all political prisoners in the country, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and had urged Asean members not to recognize the 2010 elections in Burma. 

“We want Asean countries to really pay attention to these issues,” she said. 

Naidu said that Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein had read a prepared statement at the meeting, but did not respond to criticisms. 

According to Naidu, the Rohingya crisis was also highlighted by the civil society representatives at the interface meeting. 

On Friday at a foreign ministers’ meeting, the Burmese government for the first time addressed the matter of the Rohingya, saying it would take back any boatpeople who were ascertained to have been born in Burma. However, Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win rejected the term “Rohingya” and would only refer to the ethnic group as “Bengalis.” 

Analysts said that the question of semantics signaled the Burmese junta’s policy of rejecting the estimated 800,000 Rohingyas living in Arakan State as among Burma’s 135 ethnicities. 

Earlier on Saturday, a small group of activists held a protest against the Burmese regime in Hua Hin, close to the venue of the Asean Summit. Calling the protest “Peace for Burma,” about 15 human rights activists, most of whom were Thai, held a cycling rally through the coastal town. 

“We choose the Burma issue among others in Asean countries because Burma is the hottest issue in the Asean democratization process,” said a Thai female activist who joined the protest.

Related Article:

Asean To Discuss Rohingyas As Part Of Indian Ocean Migrants

ASEAN to intensify counter-terrorism efforts

Channelnewsasia.com, 01 March 2009 0517 hrs 

Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah(L),Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung(C),Philippine President Gloria Arroyo(R)arrive for dinner

HUA HIN, Thailand - ASEAN states will intensify efforts to fight militants and pledge to work for the full implementation of a regional counter-terrorism pact this year, according to a draft seen by AFP Saturday. 

The document, to be adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders at the end of an annual summit on Sunday, said the bloc will "promote effective implementation" of a comprehensive plan of action to fight terrorism and cooperate to address its root causes. 

Southeast Asia is the base for Jemaah Islamiyah, the militant network blamed for a string of bloody attacks in the region including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people -- many of them foreign tourists. 

Muslim separatist insurgencies are meanwhile being waged in southern Thailand and in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. 

The counter-terrorism plan is contained in a blueprint for an ASEAN Political-Security Community to be adopted by Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday in the Thai resort town of Hua Hin. 

A draft of the document said ASEAN would "work towards the entry into force of the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism by 2009". 

The convention, signed in January 2007, provides a framework for regional cooperation to "counter, prevent and suppress terrorism in all its forms and manifestations". 

It calls for the exchange of intelligence and the prevention of one ASEAN member's territory to plan, finance or facilitate attacks on another. 

The wide-ranging blueprint also contains ASEAN's commitment to fight corruption, combat maritime piracy and develop an "early warning system to prevent the occurrence/escalation of conflicts". 

ASEAN chair and summit host Thailand is embroiled in a border dispute with fellow ASEAN member Cambodia. 

ASEAN members Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and the Philippines have competing claims on the Spratlys island chain in the South China Sea along with China and Taiwan. 

- AFP /ls

SBY in Thailand, reinforcing regional ties

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 02/28/2009 11:11 AM 

 President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, right, speaks with Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda during the ASEAN heads of state meet with youth representatives during the 14th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Cha-Am, near Hua Hin, southwest of Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday. AP/Barbara Walton

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left Jakarta on Friday for a three-day visit to the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin for the 14th ASEAN Summit and three other regional and bilateral meetings. 

Accompanying him are acting Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and State Secretary Hatta Radjasa. 

M.S. Hidayat, chairman of the Indonesian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and M. Luthfi, chairman of the Capital Investment Coordinating Board, are also among the President's entourage. 

Yudhoyono's hectic schedule will kick off with a preparation meeting with the Indonesian delegation to the ASEAN Summit, shortly after arriving at Hua Hin on Friday evening, the Presidential Palace said. 

On Saturday, Yudhoyono will chair the fourth meeting of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle, a cooperation program launched in 1993 aimed at accelerating the subregion's economic transformation through measures like promoting tourism and lowering transportation and transaction costs. 

Yudhoyono will then chair the fifth meeting of the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), dubbed a major location in ASEAN of high value-added agribusiness, natural resource-based manufacturing and high-grade tourism, as well as non-resource-based industries. 

The BIMP-EAGA initiative was launched in 1994, aimed at hastening the development of the economy of Brunei and subregions of the three other countries through regional cooperation. 

Yudhoyono will then attend informal talks with the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, ASEAN Youth, and the ASEAN Civil Society, and have lunch with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council. 

He will then attend the official opening ceremony of the 14th ASEAN Summit, after which he will pay a courtesy call on the King of Thailand along with leaders of other ASEAN member states. 

At the ASEAN Summit retreat scheduled for Sunday, Yudhoyono and leaders of the other nine ASEAN member states will exchange views and give directions on the implementation of the ASEAN Charter, which came into force last December. 

The leaders will also discuss regional and global issues, including food and energy security, the global financial crisis, and disaster management. 

They are expected to agree on and adopt five documents: the ASEAN Political Security Blueprint, the ASEAN Sociocultural Community Blueprint, the 2nd Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan, the ASEAN Declaration on the Attainment of Millennium Development Goals in ASEAN, and the ASEAN Statement on Food Security in the ASEAN Region. 

After the retreat, the leaders will sign one major document: the Declaration on the Road Map for an ASEAN Community 2009-2015. 

Yudhoyono will also hold bilateral talks with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on the sidelines of the summit. 

He will return to Indonesia on Sunday. 

The leaders will also discuss regional and global issues, including food and energy security, the global financial crisis, and disaster management.

Sultan Upbeat On BIMP-EAGA

From Azaraimy HH in Hua Hin, BruDirect.com, Thailand 

Hua Hin, Thailand - BIMP-EAGA needs to push on with the free flow of goods, services and investment in the sub-region, while the flow of people too needs to be facilitated in light of the economic downturn, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam said at the 5th BIMP-EAGA Summit on the opening day of 14th Asean Summit yesterday 

His Majesty in his titah during the 5th Brunei- Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines-East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Summit on Saturday took note of the progress made in tourism and investment sectors. His Majesty also commended the work being made to enhance air, land and sea linkages within BIMP-EAGA. His Majesty believed that this would benefit the people and assist businessmen in further reducing the cost of doing business in the sub-region. 

On climate change and the environment, His Majesty stated that BIMP-EAGA should take advantage of the "Heart of Borneo" and the "Coral Triangle Initiatives" and viewed that the sub-region was in a good position to become a centre of excellence for research in areas such as conservation, biotechnology or alternative sources of renewable energy. In this regard, His Majesty welcomed the participation of BIMP-EAGA youths at the workshop on Biodiversity for Young Scientist in Brunei Darussalam this mid-year.

His Majesty stated that the success of BIMP-EAGA depended on the active participation of the community at all levels, especially the private sector. His Majesty added that member countries needed to assist the private sector in developing the sub-region by enhancing the level of interaction between the business community and the BIMP-EAGA process. 

His Majesty stated that BIMP-EAGA's engagement with its development partners such as China and Japan could add value to the cooperation undertaken at the regional level such as Asean. In this regard, His Majesty encouraged the Asean Secretariat to further promote BIMP-EAGA initiatives to all Dialogue Partners of Asean. 

At the end of the summit, His Majesty together with other Asean heads of state endorsed the Joint Statement of the 5" Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia Philippines-East Asean Growth Area Summit. 

Meanwhile shortly after the opening ceremony of the Asean Summit, His Majesty held a bilateral meeting with Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Both heads of state exchanged views on the bilateral relations between the two countries and expressed satisfaction with the existing excellent ties of friendship and cooperation. 

Both His Majesty and Abhisit discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation in various fields such as trade, education, defence and other areas of mutual interest. At the same time discussions on regional and international developments were also made. 

Accompanying His Majesty at the meeting was His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 

His Majesty also consented to attend various other meetings held at the 14" Asean Summit yesterday. 

On the theme of Asean Charter for Asean People, His Majesty the Sultan and other Asean leaders attended a series of informal meetings between Asean Leaders and representatives of the peoples of Asean, including Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (Brunei as observers), youths, civil societies, and the private sector, which is aimed at promoting greater people participation in Asean - according to the Asean Charter which entered into force on Dec 15 2008. 

During the Leaders' Informal Meeting with Representatives of Asean Youth, the Thai Prime Minister stressed the important role that youths can play in helping create an Asean Community, both as recipients of the benefits of Asean integration and as Leaders of Asean in the future. He also called upon the Asean youth to play its creative part in raising awareness of Asean and reaping the benefits of community-building. 

At the first Asean Youth Summit in 2008 held Sept 15- 16 2008, the representative of youth expressed their views in enhancing the Asean community-building process along the line of Asean's three Communities. Youths- expressed that they will play a part in promoting greater acceptance and friendly relations between Asean nations, support regional economic integration for greater prosperity to the region through the narrowing of developmental gaps, emphasize the importance of self-improvement through the promotion of English education and English as a regional language. 

The meeting also agreed to convene the Asean Leaders' Informal Meeting with Representatives of Asean Youth as a part of its annual Asean Summit. 

His Majesty and other Asean leaders later attended a working lunch with the Asean Business Advisory Council 4 (ABAC) leaders, where the Asean leaders were presented with the Asean Business Investment Summit (Asean-BIS) Report. 

Later in the afternoon, His Majesty joined the other Asean heads of state and to meet His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand at Klai Kwangwol Palace in Hua Hin. 

In the evening, His Majesty attended a gala dinner hosted by Thai Premier Abhisit in honour of the Asean leaders at Mrigadayavan Palace in Hua Hin. Accompanying His Majesty at the dinner was His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

Growth Triangle tourism cooperation

Bangkokpost.com, 28/02/2009 at 07:54 PM 

Phetchaburi - Leaders of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia on Saturday agreed to step up closer tourism cooperation under the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle in a campaign to be launched this year. 

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva also urged his two counterparts, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, to further cooperate in energy to strengthen regional security in the longer term. 

The three leaders held talks on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cha-am district of Phetchaburi. 

PM's Office Minister Virachai Virameteekul said after the fourth IMT-GT meeting, chaired by the Indonesian president, that the new tourism campaign for the sub-region would be officially launched in Sumatra Island in coming months as a joint effort between the three countries. 

The private sector would be encouraged to take leading role to promote tourism opportunity in the sub-region including medical tourism, he said. 

Mr Abhisit has expressed his opinion that tourism would be the key for IMT-GT members to get through the current global economic crisis. 

Besides, the premier called on Indonesia to develop cooperation on liquefied natural gas. With Malaysia, Thailand proposed joint development of the energy land bridge which is a part of Thailand's long-delayed Southern Seaboard project. 

The southern seaboard has been suggested to be develop in line with Malaysia's northern and eastern regional development plan.

A Dusit Hotel for 14th ASEAN Summit in Thailand

Ozgur Tore, TRavel News Gazette, SUNDAY, 01 MARCH 2009 

Dusit Thani Hua Hin, one of Dusit International’s distinguished properties, has been selected as the official host hotel and headquarters for the 14th ASEAN Summit from 27 February to 1 March 2009.

This will be a great opportunity for the hotel and Thailand to welcome all delegates from ASEAN countries with the renowned warmth of traditional Thai hospitality and world-class facilities and services. 

Mr. Victor Sukseree, General Manager of Dusit Thani Hua Hin said, “We are honoured that Dusit Thani Hua Hin has been selected by the Thai government to be the official host hotel for this prestigious event. This is due to the fact that we have one of the best meeting facilities in the area. The Royal Dusit Hall, opened in 2005, is an elegant and versatile conference centre with a grand ballroom able to host over 1,000 delegates for a reception. The facility has natural daylight and panoramic views overlooking the Gulf of Siam. Years of experience with Royal functions, top level government and corporate meetings plus award winning incentives, has earned the hotel a reputation as the perfect venue for events and meetings.” 

“We have been preparing for several months to ensure we host a successful event and provide the most wonderful experience to the hundreds of delegates from 10 ASEAN countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, as well as 1,050 registered media representatives across the world. We, Dusit Thani Hua Hin and Dusit International family, are proud to be a part of this coalition to help create a better opportunity for the development of ASEAN community. This will also promote Thailand as a great business and travel destination to restore the confidence from international travellers,” added Mr. Sukseree. 

The 14th ASEAN Summit will be held at Dusit Thani Hua Hin during 27 February – 1 March 2009.  Thailand’s Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva,  will preside over the Opening Ceremony on 28 February 2009 amidst the prominent ASEAN leaders and spouses, ASEAN Foreign Ministers, ASEAN Economic Ministers, Senior Officers and many international media. It will be the first summit since the signing of the new ASEAN charter and will fast-track integration across all sectors, including economic, social, cultural, and especially transport and communications. 

China enacts tough new food law

BBC News , 28 February 2009  

China has passed a strict new food safety law, after a series of scandals involving food processing companies which killed several people.

The law, five years in the making, consolidates hundreds of separate regulations and statutes covering China's 500,000 food processing firms.

Food scandals have affected staples such as pork and milk

The law pays special attention to food additives, which were at the centre of a tainted milk scandal last year.

No additives will be allowed unless proven safe, the new law declares.

It will go into effect on 1 June.     

Milk from the Sanlu dairy company found to be contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine was last year blamed for the death of six children and making some 300,000 sick.

Two people were sentenced to death for their involvement in the Sanlu contamination. The former boss of the dairy at the centre of the milk scandal was imprisoned for life.

"The Sanlu scandal exposed a loophole in the system, and that's why the new law is especially strict in this area," Xin Chunying, a lawmaker from the National People's Congress Standing Committee was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

The new law will also include a system for monitoring and supervision, a set of national standards for food safety, severe discipline for offenders and a system for food recall.

Just last week, at least 70 people fell ill after eating pork products contaminated with an illegal animal feed additive, state media reported.

In 2006, more than 300 people fell ill in Shanghai after eating pig meat or organs that had been contaminated in a similar fashion.

ASEAN jobs for RP professionals

By Noel Adlai O. Velasco, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 06:19:00 03/01/2009 

BANGKOK/CHA-AM, Thailand—Filipino doctors, dentists and accountants will soon be able to practice their professions in other countries in the region with the signing on Thursday of three agreements by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 

The agreements—signed at the start of the four-day 14th Asean Summit at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Cha-am, Thailand—are the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) on Medical Practitioners, on Dental Practitioners and on Accountancy Services. 

The MRAs will allow Filipino doctors, dentists and accountants to work in other countries in the region without being obliged to pass these countries’ board examinations. 

But the MRAs will not take effect immediately, according to Pushpanathan Sundram, the Asean deputy secretary general. 

“We have to work out the details. There is a process that needs to be followed,” Pushpanathan said in an interview. 

Ambassador Donald Dee, the special envoy of the Philippines for trade negotiations, also told the Inquirer as much. 

Only 1 in effect 

Pushpanathan said the MRAs were just facilitating agreements. 

He said licensure examinations had to be harmonized so that professionals who passed such exams in their home countries would not have to be retested in their host countries. 

Pushpanathan said an MRA on engineering had taken effect and was being implemented. Some Filipino engineers are now working in Thailand and Laos. 

At the 13th Asean summit in 2007 held in Singapore, similar arrangements were signed covering architectural services and surveying. Those covering engineers and nurses were signed earlier. 

Boosting trade 

But only the MRA covering engineers has taken effect. 

“We need to compare our standards so the quality of services is acceptable within the region,” Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said. 

The three MRAs were among the eight agreements signed by ASEAN economic ministers aimed at boosting trade, investment and employment in the region. 

Trade Secretary Peter Favila signed for the Philippines. 

The other pacts are the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (Atiga), the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (Acia), the Protocol to Implement the 7th Package of Commitments under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services (Afas), the MRA on Good Manufacturing Practice of Medicinal Products, and the memorandum of understanding between Thailand and Indonesia on sugar under the Protocol to Provide Consideration for Rice and Sugar. 

Revised, improved 

“These agreements allow for a streamlined, consolidated, predictable and transparent set of rules for us to achieve our goals of a single market and production base by 2015,” Surin said. 

Surin said the Atiga and Acia had been revised and improved to achieve ASEAN’s goals. 

The Atiga integrates all existing and new ASEAN commitments and initiatives related to trade in goods in one comprehensive framework. 

Among others, this agreement covers tariff liberalization, elimination of non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, trade facilitation, customs procedures, standards and conformance, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. 

It is expected to facilitate trade in the region by streamlining and simplifying procedures in order to allow for easier flow of goods and trade at regional and international levels. 

The Acia is expected to strengthen investment liberalization and protection and reduce uncertainties and transaction costs of investment in ASEAN. 

Free access to jobs 

On the other hand, the 7th Afas Protocol institutes new mechanisms and measures for free access to jobs without the need for working visas anywhere in the region. 

It is expected to benefit thousands of overseas Filipino workers. 

ASEAN vows to stand firm against protectionism

The Jakarta Post, Jocelyn Gecker, The Associated Press, Cha-Am, Thailand | Sun, 03/01/2009 11:21 AM  

Southeast Asian leaders vowed Sunday to stand firm against protectionism and knit the diverse region into a European Union-style community by 2015 despite the global economic crisis. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in a statement released at the conclusion of its 14th annual summit, also called for "bold and urgent reform of the international financial system" that would take into account the needs of developing nations. 

The summit delegates grappled with the region's economic woes in the face of the global crisis but also aimed to highlight ASEAN's championship of human rights. Instead, 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 commitment to implement measures adopted in the ASEAN Economic Blueprint," which calls for economic and some political and security integration by 2015, adding that the scope for regional cooperation must be expanded. 

ASEAN's goal of forming a single market mainly involves lifting trade barriers but not, at this point, adopting a common currency. 

"They agreed to stand firm against protectionism and to refrain from introducing and raising new barriers," the statement said. 

Philippine Trade Secretary Peter Favila told The Associated Press there was reluctance to push ahead with the goal to drop all trade barriers by 2015. 

"Some ministers during unofficial discussions on the sidelines were saying that in the light of the global meltdown of course the local industries were affected," he said. "But those are just sentiments. You know everybody has to follow the leaders' instructions: Do it by 2015." 

Summit delegates also worked on the formation of a human rights body, but critics noted that the body, expected to begin functioning later this year, would lack power to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanctions. ASEAN has followed a policy of so-called "engagement" with Myanmar and noninterference in its internal affairs. 

Saturday's incident - when leaders from Cambodia and Myanmar threatened to walk out rather than meet pro-democracy activists invited to the talks - proved a ready-made example of ASEAN's impotence in regulating human rights. 

Calling it "unfortunate," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel noted that nobody has yet come forth with a strategy to reform Myanmar's entrenched military regime. 

"The sanctions based approach hasn't worked, the ASEAN engagement approach hasn't worked," Marciel said, reiterating recent comments by Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state. "The fact is there isn't any obvious way ahead." 

"The military regime of Burma is the one who has been sabotaging ASEAN ever since they joined ASEAN in 1997," said Debbie Stothard with the human rights group ALTSEAN-Burma. 

The summit is the first since the group signed 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 that among other things they immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi," Philippine Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said, referring to Myanmar's pro-democracy leader who has been in detention for most of the last 19 years. 

ASEAN's 10 members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

ASEAN, which encompasses a region of more than 500 million people, includes two communist regimes, two constitutional monarchies, a military dictatorship and fledgling democracies.

Malaysia to restore 'Allah' ban for Christians

The Jakarta Post, Eileen Ng, The Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur | Sun, 03/01/2009 9:49 AM  

The Malaysian government will issue a new decree restoring a ban n Christian publications using the word "Allah" to refer to God, officials said Sunday.

Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar said a Feb. 16 decree that let Christian publications use the word as long as they specified the material was not for Muslims was a mistake, the national Bernama news agency reported. 

The about-turn came after Islamic groups slammed the government and warned that even conditional use of the word by Christians would anger Muslims in the largely Islamic country. 

A senior ministry official confirmed Syed Hamid's comments, saying there were "interpretation mistakes" in the Feb. 1 decree that led to the confusion. 

"'Allah' cannot be used for other religions except Islam because it might confuse Muslims. This is the ministry's stand and it hasn't changed," the official, who declined to be named citing protocol, told The Associated Press. 

The dispute has become symbolic of inceasing religious tensions in Malaysia, where 60 percent of the 27 million people are Muslim Malays. A third of the population is ethnic Chinese and Indian, and many of them practice Christianity. 

Malaysia's minorities have often complained that their constitutional right topractice their religions freely has come under threat from the Malay Muslim-dominated government. They cite destruction of Hindu temples and conversion disputes as examples. The government denies any discrimination. 

The Herald, the Roman Catholic Church's main newspaper in the country, had filed a legal suit to challenge the government ban on the word. 

The Herald argued that the Arabic word is a common reference for God that predates Islam and has been used for centuries as a translation in Malay. 

Officials from the Herald could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday.

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Malaysia to allow Christians to use 'Allah'