30 Recommendations To Strengthen ASEAN In Meeting People-Centred Vision - Asean Sec-Gen

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz and Joan Santani KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN High-Level Task Force has forwarded some 30 recommendations to the ASEAN Secretariat to strengthen the regional body to be effective and true to its people-centred vision, said ASEAN secretary-general Le Luong Minh. He said the recommendations also proposed making ASEAN a more rules-based organisation that will be more powerful in monitoring the progress of the ASEAN Community set to be established at year-end. "Implementation of the ASEAN Community 2015 and the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 will see a much bigger workload. "That is why strengthening the ASEAN institution is very important, so that it is capable of delivering commitments in the next phase of ASEAN Community consolidation," he told Bernama in an interview in conjunction with the 27th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from Nov 18 to 22. Le said that under Malaysia's chairmanship, ASEAN had undertaken various people-centred programmes that had bridged the gap among all levels of societiy in the region. These include region-based television programmes like GOASEAN and the inaugural ASEAN People's Award for members of the community who have contributed to the process of ASEAN Community building, he said. "We have seen better interactions between the leaders and ASEAN stakeholders, like civil society, youth, the people, the parliamentarians," he said. The ASEAN secretary-general also stressed that ASEAN was not weak, as claimed by certain quarters, in cross-border issues such as ensuring companies adhered to regulations and exporters having to fulfill made-in-ASEAN content. He pointed out that the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) would see a duty-free ASEAN by 2018. "There will be no more duties among ASEAN countries. So goods and services, as well as investments can move more freely by then," he explained. Le said that to ensure the success of the ASEAN Community's economic pillar, the region would also focus on the elimination of non-tariff barriers to make sure that goods and services as well as investments could really move freely among ASEAN countries. -- BERNAMA