Stairway to ASEAN Community in 2015

Friday, 21 January 2011

ANTARA News Agency 

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) is now trying to build an ASEAN Community based upon three pillars namely Secure Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community aimed at people-oriented community.

With its motto "One vision, One identity, One community", ASEAN was formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand which later expanded its membership with the joining of Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

ASEAN was established to accelerate the regional economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, protection of peace and stability in the region, to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully.

In the ASEAN 9th Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on October 2003, the forum announced its intention to build an ASEAN Community based upon three pillars, security, economic and socio-cultural Community.

The process of ASEAN community building is a result of the a considerable change in the association`s mission in the last two decades.

The end of the Cold War, the advance of globalization, the rise of China and India economically and political influence as well as the Asian financial crisis have forced ASEAN to shift from its original preventive diplomacy of maintaining peace and harmony among its members and in the region.

This shift is aimed to the constructive diplomacy of community building to cope with increasing political and economic competition in a globalized world.

Quoting Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa as saying, every region has its own situation and background, and further study shows that it does not mean that ASEAN will build a community like the Europe Union or African Union, its very different.

"And what we discuss right now is on how to build cohesiveness in the Southeast Asian region, we are still learning about it, ASEAN position should be more cohesive in handling global issues," Marty said after the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) Retreat in Lombok, January 16-17, 2011.

Regarding the ASEAN Community in a global community concept, the ministers in the AMM Retreat discussed steps to elevate the image and its role at the international level among others, through contribution of thought and action in facing world challenges and handling regional and global issues, as a part of  ASEAN`s vision beyond 2015.

ASEAN Community`s Global Contribution

ASEAN has been working and contributing to the global issues by sending peace force to other community such as the Europe Union and the African Union, he said

Apparently, ASEAN has been cooperating within the global community all along, but the main problem is that each member is working sporadically in many sectors bilaterally, regionally and globally, but yet to put the one ASEAN identity.

Such cooperation gave no meaningful impact to the community because all of these efforts are done separately and individually, Marty said.

"So we are planning to manage the matter by creating a clear vision and final targets without duplicating the Europe Union (UE)," he said.

The UE always talked about a common forum policy, Marty think that ASEAN does not have any discourse towards common forum policy, but common platform because ASEAN is expected to be more coordinated on global issues handling.

"So we are using the `common platform` term on global issues that become major concern and interest to ASEAN, it would not be all global issue, but issues such as disaster management and how to overcome it," he said.

In the upcoming ASEAN Community target shortly in 2015, ASEAN will impose the common platform on global issue that has been the community`s concern.

The platform application is considered important due to the ASEAN members that has been contributing to the global community separately and individually

"I think this is a prevalent, planned and arranged step as in 2003 while Indonesia held the chairmanship we proposed the formation of an ASEAN Community," Marty said.

Based on the three ASEAN pillars of Economy, Socio-Culture and Politic Security, each pillar has provided its own cooperation blueprint to create integrity.

"In Economy sector, ASEAN aimed to create an integrated trade area, which also shown by two other sectors," said Marty.

But in the end, ASEAN community wanted a mutual togetherness, love and ownerships that cannot be legislated by any decree or regulations it must be self-grown within the community`s members.

People Centered Community

"Therefore, ASEAN is offering a People Centered ASEAN to create the sense of togetherness, and mainly we must ensure the community that these steps can provide real benefits to the community," Marty said.

Marty pleaded that all of ASEAN member countries must not only see the world today, but also to look further in 2020 and beyond, to be ready to compete with other world organizations such as the European Union and the African Union.

"If we didn`t make the move in 2003, we only become an `association` with Southeast Asian countries that will be left behind sooner or later," Marty said.

Because, according to Marty regional organization will be the world`s actor in the future, not a single country, therefore each organization?s member country must not talk to its own interest but as one identity, ASEAN.

Previously in the ASEAN OECD Investment Policy Conference in November 2010, ASEAN Deputy Secretary General Sundram Pushpanathan also said that ASEAN will not adopt the EU concept which is different.

"Every country`s economic situation is different, there is a very open economy like Singapore, and other counties have different economy systems," he said.