New secretary-general urged to boost ASEAN roles on world stage

BANGKOK, December 8 (TNA) - Thailand has proposed that the new Secretary-General of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who will take office next year, further boost ASEAN roles on the world stage and emphasize on the socio-cultural pillar of the ASEAN Community (AC), scheduled to be formed by 2015. Thai Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow told reporters that he raised the proposal during his meeting with the visiting new ASEAN Secretary-General, Le Luong Minh, who is now Vietnam's Deputy Minister For Foreign Affairs, in Bangkok on Friday, noting that the socio-cultural pillar of the AC concerns directly with the livelihood of the ASEAN population. Sihasak said the incoming ASEAN chief acknowledged that, as an ASEAN Secretary-General, he would support and coordinate with all ASEAN member countries, and that he would first push for the successful establishment of the AC and would promote regional cooperation based on the AC's three pillars, including politics and security, economy and socio-cultures. Besides, the new ASEAN expressed his views that the 10-member bloc should face more challenges in the near future and, thus, relations between ASEAN and its dialogue partners should be strengthened through existing mechanisms for the sake of regional peace and stability. (TNA)