History was made today as regional leaders signed a declaration pronouncing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) an integrated community on Dec 31, a significant milestone in the grouping’s several-decade long journey of trust building and practical cooperation.
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Joseph added that the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Asean 2025, which incorporates the Asean Community Vision, only contained “mediocre Asean commitment” despite claiming to be a “bold, visionary, progressive and forward-looking document to reflect the aspirations of the next generation of Asean nationals”.
But, these divergencies have not deterred these countries in forming an economic community as the integration offers the most concrete opportunities in a region whose combined gross domestic product (GDP) would make it the world’s seventh-largest economy.
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.
Besides the nine other ASEAN members, the Philippines was able to interact with the bloc’s dialogue partners: China, Japan, Korea, the United States, India, Australia, New Zealand and United Nations.
Singapore is among the 12 countries that have signed on to the TPP trade agreement.
The AEC areas of cooperation include human resources development and capacity building; recognition of professional qualifications; closer consultation on macroeconomic and financial policies; trade financing measures; enhanced infrastructure and communications connectivity; development of electronic transactions through e-ASEAN; integrating industries across the region to promote regional sourcing; and enhancing private sector involvement for the building of the AEC.
On Friday, Islamist militants carried out an attack at a hotel in the Mali capital, Bamako.
She said gender equality and the diversity of Asean was not comprehensively reflected in the vision.
“India will continue to deepen bilateral security partnerships in ASEAN and with other EAS partners”, said the Indian Prime Minister.
At the summit Kuala Lumpur, Li Keqiang, China’s premier, called on the Southeast Asian nations to set aside their differences as tensions rise over the disputed South China Sea islands, the state news agency Xinhua said.
The ASEAN Community comprises three pillars: the Political and Security Community, the Economic Community and the Socio-Cultural Community.
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Modi underlined the need for settling territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea through peaceful means. “Instead, we are likely to see a slow initial burn that will become increasingly brighter as integration begins to get traction”.
