Greetings For Asean Comunity

By Ainul Huda Mohamed Saaid KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (Bernama) -- Chomreabsuor! Kumoosta! Hello! Sawatdee! Apa Khabar! Chao! Mingalaba! Sabaadii!; these are the greetings typical to the 10 member states of Asean with three - Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei - sharing the "Apa Khabar" greeting. One will expect these greetings to reverberate throughout Asean, a grouping made up of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, The Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, after the Asean Community concept becomes a reality on 31 Dec 2015. The cultural, language and religious diversity, and the economic disparity and the divergent political systems within the member states are no barrier to the grouping's 620 million population in seeking a common identity as the Asean community. The Asean Community concept is envisioned to enhance the spirit of belonging within the region and in achieving common ground in politics, security, socio-culture and economy. The Politics and Economic Community, Socio-Cultural Community and the Economic Community within the spirit of the Asean Community will attempt to iron out the differences in the respective areas and work to forge greater cooperation in these areas. SOMETHING THAT GOES WAY BACK The integration of Asean goes a long way back with among others the open sky and visa free policy adopted by member states, except for Myanmar, being the among the moves to bring the Asean community closer. In the near future the major airports in Asean may even have dedicated lanes for Asean travelers. "The peace and political stability in the region is also due to the cooperation and understanding achieved by the member states within the spirit of Asean and this has greatly benefited the people of Asean. "And when there is political stability in the region, the people of Asean could go about with their routines and benefit from the economic development," said the Director-General of the ASEAN-Malaysia National Secretariat (AMNS) Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaacob to Bernama recently. While Asean moves into higher integration mode, the regional security remains a priority with the grouping among others maintaining its stand in many of the international treaties, including in achieving the Southeast Asian-Nuclear Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty. The Asean Community also means there will be greater socio-cultural understanding and cohesion between the peoples of the member states. The environment, natural resources, development and better quality of life across the grouping has also been envisioned under the Asean Community. Sports too will play a crucial role in connecting Asean like seen now through the AFF Suzuki Cup football tournament, SEA games and others. As Youths of today are the future leaders of the grouping, Asean Youth Exchange Programmes and Asean Youth Volunteer Programmes that focus on leadership development across the grouping is seen vital. THE ECONOMIC FRONT As from the economic front, the Asean market trade is valued at US$2.5 trillion (RM8 trillion) with the GDP growth exceeding five per cent. Under the spirit of the Asean Community, the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is expected to unite Asean member states into a economic powerhouse with the combined GDP exceeding US$21 trillion (RM70 trillion), representing almost half of the global trade figure. MALAYSIA'S LEADERSHIP OF ASEAN Two of the important responsibilities for Malaysia as the chair of Asean is to ensure Asean's Post-2015 Vision is documented and to closely monitor the action lines under the Asean 2009-2015 action plan. "We as the chair will provide the leadership in the process, but one should not forget Asean works on consensus thus the cooperation from all members are vital," explained Muhammad Shahrul. Malaysia is all set to take over the Asean chair in 2015 and had conducted preparatory meetings with stakeholders, ngos, think thanks, youth groups and media seeking ideas in fulfilling Malaysia's role as the Chair. -- BERNAMA