Regional Cooperation In Asean To Rejuvenate Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Regional cooperation in Asean, among others the China-Asean Summit (10+1), Asean plus China, Japan and South Korea (10+3), will help to rejuvenate the development of the Asian region. The Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Working Committee for Offices Directly under the Central Committee, Sun Gan said at present, these cooperation were focusing on the economy, politics, security, cultural and other areas of cooperation. These cooperation were also creating the prospect of multi-layered and all-dimensional cooperation in the region, and it was an important milestone in the development and rejuvenation of the Asian Region, he said at the two-day international forum on “The Politics of Economic and Social Transformation in the Era of Global Crisis” in conjunction with the Umno General Assembly 2011 at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), here Tuesday. Sun, who was one of four panelists at the 3rd Plenary Session on "The Success Stories of the Thriving Nations", said: “Facts have shown that China cannot do without Asia for its development and prosperity and vice-versa. “China is ready to work with other Asian countries to face up challenges, strengthen cooperation in all fields, promote peace and prosperity of the region and endeavour to build a harmonious Asia," he said. Sun said there was a need for Asian nations to join hands to lay a solid foundation for the Asian Century. On Malaysia-China bilateral trade, he said Malaysia was the largest trading partner for China among Asean member countries for three consecutive years. For the first three quarters of this year, bilateral-trade volume between both countries reached USD66.3 billion (RM211.270 billion), an increase of 23 percent compared with the same period last year. “China’s export volume was USD19.9 billion (RM63.413 billion), an increase of 13 percent and import volume stood at USD46.4 billion (RM147.857 billion), an increase of 28 percent,” he said. Meanwhile, Umno Youth exco member Muhammad Khairun Aseh in his paper concurred with Sun that the 21st century belonged to Asia, since 60 percent of the global population resided in the Asian region, which among others provided an extremely big market for goods and services, and was experiencing economic growth. While the West, some of the IT member countries such Italy and Greece are currently struggling to solve its debt crisis, he said. Muhammad Khairun said the driver of the Asian century would be Asean and supported by the two emerging regional economic powerhouses, that is India and China. However, Asean should not be in hurry in introducing a single currency, and needed to learn from the Euro currency crisis faced by some members. The United Malays National Organisation,(abbreviated as UMNO) is Malaysia's largest political party; a founding member of the National Front coalition, which has played a dominant role in Malaysian politics since independence. The UMNO emphasizes as its foundation the struggle to uphold the aspirations of Malay nationalism and the dignity of race, religion and country. --BERNAMA