ASEAN Way Enables Member Nations To Share Vision

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Bernama) -- ASEAN’s informal, intergovernmental decision-making process, known as the ‘ASEAN Way’, enables each country to have a genuinely shared vision and real understanding of the objective for integration, said British High Commissioner to Malaysia Victoria Treadell. She said although it slowed down the pace for integration, the ASEAN Way boded well for the region as it took into account the diverse economies within it and the different expectations from each government. "One of the lessons which can be derived from the United Kingdom’s experience in the European Union (EU) is to ensure that everyone has a shared vision and a real understanding of the objectives. “A one-size-fits-all approach in the EU has not worked for Britain," she told a roundtable discussion on “Lessons Learnt from Brexit - Risk and Opportunities for ASEAN”, here Thursday. She said Britain joined the EU back when it was based on a different concept, known as the common market for free trade. "But as the EU evolved, and moved towards economic and political integration through the introduction of the euro and the eurozone, there is a level of dissatisfaction among our citizens. "Our people feel that they are not benefiting from it, and when they see the migrants, there’s a sense that the jobs were going to the foreigners," she said, adding these ultimately led to the decision to leave the economic bloc via a referendum last year. "EU’s objectives are not the British people’s objectives, that is why we are leaving the EU," she said. The roundtable event organised by the CIMB ASEAN Research Institute and ASEAN Business Club, discussed Britain's participation in the EU and lessons that can be learned from the nation's separation from the economic bloc. --BERNAMA