Besides Najib, the documents were inked by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong of Laos, Myanmar President U Thein Sein, Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam.
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The ASEAN leaders renewed their commitments to stepping up unity and deepening connectivity in the next decade as envisioned in the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on 2025 ASEAN Vision.
There is now a new regional economic bloc.
However, diplomats have admitted Sunday’s declaration has no practical effect, and was largely meant to avoid having Asean – regularly criticised for its lack of concrete achievements – miss its own deadline of 2015.
“We meet at a time of multiple global challenges: economic uncertainties, political turmoil and security threats”, Modi said in his address as the 13th Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)-India Summit got underway here.
“It’s also about all of us being Asean, recognising that something special binds us, and making our citizens feel that Asean courses through their veins”, he said.
The Asean Community seeks to draw members of the 48-year-old grouping closer together by integrating their economies, working together to improve the lives of their people, and ensuring that peace and stability are maintained in the region.
The combined gross domestic product of ASEAN economies is expected to grow from US$2.6 trillion (S$3.7 trillion) to US$4.7 trillion by 2020.
But significant non-tariff and other barriers remain in a region marked by extremes in development levels, democratisation, and institutional capability. The Prime Minister also attended the 10 East Asia Summit during his visit to Malaysia.
In 2017, he said the Philippines will host the ASEAN summit.
Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin has urged countries to “not deliberately stir up trouble” in the strategically vital area. The leaders discussed the ways to promote trade and economic relations between member states as well as other countries, and also discussed security measures and rising threat of terrorism globally.
ASEAN nations have various systems of government including communism in Laos and Vietnam, a military junta in Thailand, an authoritarian regime in Cambodia, a quasi-civilian system in Myanmar and a monarchy in Brunei.
With the advent of the Community, Najib said: “We’ve now have raised the bar and expectations of our people, and we’re charged with meeting the aspirations of our younger generation, and of those to come”.
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“Eliminating all forms of discrimination and human rights violations is fundamental towards achieving regional integration that is rooted in achieving equality of all Asean countries and its peoples”, she said.
