"Brunei's Asean chairmanship in 2013 will be very important in
ensuring the Asean Community meets its 2015 deadline, and I am confident that
Brunei is capable of taking the role as chair", said executive director of
the Brunei's Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies Hj Ismail Hj Duraman.
The executive director, in an
email interview with The Brunei Times, said Brunei, as the new Asean Chair
could use its experience and leadership to resolve disputes and accelerate the
Asean integration process.
Brunei has been a member of Asean
for 28 years and has a great deal of experience. It has always presented itself
as a neutral facilitator. In addition to that, Brunei has always been committed
to the Asean spirit and the chairmanship is a powerful tool for the country to
set the agenda in the 2013 summit.
He said issues that needed to be
addressed included political, economic and socio-cultural security.
In addition, he said Asean would
need to look into cooperation on defence and security, accelerating the Asean
Economic Community blueprint in areas such as fostering sustainable economic
growth and development, facilitating regional trade and investment, services'
liberalisation and integration, regional connectivity, as well as food
security, climate change, humanitarian aid and disaster relief.
"There will also be a focus
towards socio-cultural progress in areas such as education and health, as well
as promotion of Asean's cultural heritage. Cooperation and commitment by all
Asean member countries towards its goals will be key, and this would also mean
intensifying current efforts in both integration and implementation," he
said.
Hj Ismail said these issues would
have to be dealt with some urgency bearing in mind the Asean Community deadline
of 2015.
He said he was confident Brunei
would serve as a catalyst to achieving these goals, while promoting Asean's
credibility and development.
Asked how Asean integration could
pioneer cooperation and connectivity, Hj Ismail said Asean economies were
diverse and culturally different, and that inter- and intra-state connectivity
in terms of sea, air and land could prove challenging.
There is also the challenge of
keeping people digitally connected. For example, enhancing connectivity in
rural areas and between islands in an archipelago, he said.
"Asean has proven many times
in the past that countries cooperate and stay connected in both good and bad
times. Recent events in Thailand and the Philippines are testament to how Asean
countries come together to help. If Asean cooperation and connectivity proceed
as planned, Asean will be a formidable economic powerhouse. Today, if Asean
were a single country, it would be the world's ninth largest economy and the
world's third largest in terms of population, which is about 600 million
people," he said.
Asean has also implemented many
agreements and treaties to ensure its firm standing in the global arena. It has
in place, strategies for all the areas mentioned political security, economic
growth, social progress and cultural development.
"For example, in the area of
political security, Asean has in place the APSC [Asean political security
community], TAC [Treaty of Amity and Cooperation] in Southeast Asia and has
successfully preserved Southeast Asia as a nuclear weapons-free zone and free
from weapons of mass destruction," he said.
He added: "There are
undoubtedly challenges and obstacles towards achieving Asean connectivity.
Among these would be the availability of funding and investment in
infrastructure development, rural development and closing the digital
divide."
With its location at the heart of
East Asia, Asean plays an important role in the process of regional
integration. With their geographical proximity and long established economic
[and historical] relations with other major East Asian countries, the Asean countries
possess important factors to effectively drive East Asian integration.
East Asian integration will,
therefore, achieve no major success without the strengthening of Asean
integration, he said, adding that "in turn, Asean integration cannot
succeed if the development gap in Asean, particularly between Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, Vietnam (CLMV) and the more advanced Asean member countries, continues
to widen."
Reducing the gap in development
between the CLMV and other Asean member countries is critical to the success of
East Asian integration. Having said that, it should be noted that development
gaps always exist; however, not all gaps are impediments to integration, Hj
Ismail said.
"There are two approaches to
narrowing the development gap within Asean member countries. The first is on a
more technical basis, which refers to the key 'gap indicators'. More
specifically, this approach assumes that development gaps can be reflected in a
number of aspects and disciplines, i.e multi-dimensional and inter-disciplinary.
Alternatively, one may proceed to discuss the problem of reducing the
development gap by thinking of the reforms to be undertaken by each newer
member, the possible forms of intra-CLMV cooperation to be pursued, and the
type of external assistance required," he said.
Hj Ismail pointed out that the
CLMV countries were at significantly different stages of reform and
international integration.
"Vietnam and Cambodia have
progressed rapidly in terms of international economic integration, at least in
terms of the number of international economic arrangements they participated in
and their (relatively early) timing. Meanwhile, Laos and Myanmar have stayed
rather closed. Thus, it is not easy to generalise about propositions and
conclusions for reforms in each of the newer Asean members," he said.
Commenting on the Asean Spirit,
Hj Ismail said Brunei, with its intrinsic assets as a neutral and stable
country, politically, economically and socially, had and would continue to act
as an effective mediator and facilitator in ensuring this reality.
"Enhancing awareness of
Asean is an important undertaking that involves a continuing effort at
knowledge-building and inculcating values and attitudes of regionalism among
various stakeholders of the region, especially the youth. The aim is to enable
Asean citizens to realise and appreciate common aspirations in the region and
to inspire them to take part in the dynamics of building the Asean
Community," he said.
Promoting Asean is a shared
responsibility among all Asean member countries, Asean agencies and all other
stakeholders involved in shaping the Asean community, he said.
Rasidah Hab
The Brunei Times
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