The leaders of
Asean’s member nations concluded the association’s 21st summit yesterday,
adopting the so-called Phnom Penh agenda and claiming progress on settling
maritime disputes with China.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in Phnom Penh that the agenda
would focus on addressing Asean’s challenges and prioritising measures to
realise the Asean Economic Community by 2015.
"We strongly believe that the measures agreed and laid down in the
framework of the Phnom Penh agenda will become an effective means for
addressing our major challenges,” he said during the press conference held
after the conclusion of the summit.
The challenges were reducing development gaps in the region,
implementing the master plan on Asean connectivity and promoting cooperation in
other sectors, such as the protection of migrant workers and enhancing disaster
management, Hun Sen said.
Asean leaders made progress on presenting a united front on the
sensitive issue of the conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea
held by several member nations, he added.
Asean member nations Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines, in addition
to China and Taiwan, have made claims to the Spratly Islands, a fecund fishing
ground and an area rich in oil and gas deposits.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that Asean would
formulate a code of conduct for resolving disputes while continuing to promote
negotiations with China through the association.
"The big picture is the one that must not be lost,” he said as
quoted by Reuters. “In contrast to the recent past, now we have a situation
where all are basically rushing and competing to get the Code of Conduct off
the ground.”
The leaders also adopted the Phnom Penh Agenda for Asean Community
Building, a road map for the issues that Cambodia plans to focus on while it
holds the association’s rotating chair in 2012.
The Declaration on a Drug-Free Asean 2015 and the Malaysian-backed
Concept Paper on Global Movement of Moderates, which aims to avert rising
extremism in the region, were also adopted.
During the two-day summit, Asean’s leaders also agreed to a Cambodian
proposal to double the size of the existing regional currency pool to US$240
billion, to address regional migrant worker issues and to bridge development
gaps between member nations. The leaders also evaluated the progress of member
nations in realising the Asean Economic Community, concluding that all members
were on track with their commitments.
During the summit, Asean ministers agreed to step up efforts to
consolidate free trade agreements with some of the region’s major trading
partners such as Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand —
under the so-called “Asean+6” Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Indonesia has been designated to lead a working group on trade in goods
that will convene in April.
Iman Pambagyo, the Trade Ministry’s international trade cooperation
chief, said that Asean, under Cambodia’s leadership in 2012, would also focus
on developing small and medium enterprises, trade and investment,
infrastructure and connectivity, subregional and regional development and food
and energy security.
Key points of Phnom Penh Declaration:
• Continue global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament efforts by
maintaining Southeast Asia as a nuclear weapons, and weapons of mass
destruction, free zone.
• Continue to uphold the commitments of the Declaration on the Conduct
of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and principles of international law,
including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Encourage greater intra-Asean mobility, including realisation of a
visa exemption regime for Asean nationals as well as progressive visa
relaxations and an Asean common visa for non-Asean nationals.
• Continue toward the establishment of an Asean Economic Community
(AEC) by 2015 through implementation of the AEC blueprint.
• Engage Asean’s free trade agreement (FTA) partners through
initiatives to broaden and deepen Asean’s economic relations with the global
community.
• Advance Asean’s common interests at the global level and ensure
increased Asean role in global challenges as well as establishing Asean as a
reliable regional player through the Bali Declaration on Asean Community in a
Global Community of Nations (Bali Concord III).
Linda Yulisman
The Jakarta Post
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