Asean Summit Set To Grab Attention With Upcoming AEC On The Horizon

From Minggu Simon Lhasa NAY PYI TAW (MYANMAR), Nov 12 (Bernama) -- In less than a week, this part of the world will again grab global attention, shifting from the just concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Beijing to the coming Asean Summit in Nay Pyi Taw. Among the Asean leaders who attended APEC and now the Asean Summit is Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who arrived here late Tuesday night from Beijing. He was accompanied by his wife, Rosmah Mansor. The Asean Summit this time is of significance as it is held before the implementation of Asean Economic Community next year, when Malaysia will assume the chairmanship of Asean. The Summit takes place at a critical juncture of Asean’s history with just one year to go before the establishment of the Asean Community in 2015, according to a news release from the Asean Secretariat. During this Summit, the leaders of Asean will also engage with the Heads of State/Government of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and the United States, it said. It said the Summit, which began here Wednesday, would hold an in-depth discussion on the future direction of the Asean Community beyond 2015. The Summit is expected to adopt the Nay Pyi Taw Declaration for the Asean Community’s Post-2015 Vision and it would serve as the basis for the formulation of a comprehensive post-2015 vision for Asean next year, it said. Additionally, the Summit will adopt a Declaration on Strengthening the Asean Secretariat and Reviewing the Asean Organs, aimed at enhancing the capacity, coordination and synergy of Asean institutions and mechanisms amidst the growing volume of Community building work and the fast-changing regional landscape, it said. At the Summit, regional and international issues of common interest and concern would be on top of the agenda, especially those that had significant impact on peace and stability in the region such as the South China Sea issue, it said. The Leaders will also adopt the Asean Joint Statement on Climate Change 2014. Further, an important topic on the table is configuring the best approaches to position Asean strategically amidst the shifting regional landscape both in terms of geo-economics and geo-politics, it said. Asean Leaders are expected to continue the on-going discourse on enhancing Asean’s centrality and credibility in the evolving regional architecture and engagement with external partners, it added. This year is also the first time that Myanmar is chairing Asean and the meeting provides the country with a historic moment in both its own and Asean’s history, it said. The timing of the chairmanship is regarded as momentous in light of the country’s on-going democratisation and reform process, it added. According to the Secretary-General of Asean, Le Luong Minh: “2014 is the most important turning year deciding the achievement of the Asean Community by 2015 and Myanmar has played an important role in accelerating the implementation of the remaining action lines for the Asean Community building.” He said Myanmar’s chairmanship had also set the stage for the Asean Community’s post-2015 vision as well as the work on reviewing and strengthening Asean institutions. Asean was established in 1967 by the five founding members, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Later, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia joined in to make up what is now the 10 Member States. The Summit is the Association’s highest policy-making body and the Chairmanship is rotated alphabetically among the Member States every year. In 2015, it will be Malaysia's turn to be the chairman of Asean. --BERNAMA