Asean business leaders should press ahead in bolstering regional
strengths and be undeterred by political conflicts that involve countries in
the region and superpowers like the US and China, a former foreign affairs and
trade and industry minister of Singapore said.
In a speech to the Asean Business
Club on Tuesday evening, George Yeo, now vice chairman of Kerry Group, stressed
that the business community should strengthen efforts to ensure the successful
materialisation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which would make Asean
stronger and ensure a bigger role for the region in the new world economy.
"If we play our role, we can
make a better Asia and then a better world," he said. "Don't react to
reactions, but to strategies. In the meantime, let us stimulate movement."
Much of his speech, titled
"Asean in the New World Economy", highlighted that all existing
conflicts were solvable. If not now, they can be resolved tomorrow, he said.
Yeo started his talk by referring
to disputes in the South China Sea, which involve China, the Philippines and
Vietnam, as well as recent tension over the United States' plan to establish a
regional radar system. In the past, he said, Thailand also faced threats from
Vietnam when that country had sought dominance in Indochina.
He stressed that Asean leaders
should not let "vested interests affect mutual benefits".
The situation was
"frantic" in the past, he said, but it had improved over time. He
acknowledged that Asean had been formulated out of member states' mutual fear
of one another, and not the need for one another. But over time, Asean has come
to offer opportunities to all citizens of the 10-member grouping, and
integration also raises bargaining power when Asean nations have to deal with
superpowers.
"We have differences, but if
we don't cling together, we can't negotiate with China, Japan and the US,"
he said.
Yeo said he did not believe it
was in China's interest to bully Asean, given the country's genuine interest in
forging a trade pact with the grouping shortly after the 1997 financial crisis.
In doing so, Beijing also
understood that Asean, in embracing "friends", could offer similar
deals to other nations such as the US, Japan and China to create a
"comfortable situation for all". It is also not in the United States'
interest to divide Asean, as that would pave the way for China's dominance of
the region, country by country, he said.
Regional integration now offers
connectivity to the world, offering new trade channels and the integration of
regional skills. Through China, Asean can establish North-South linkage, while
Japan and India will help in East-West linkage, he added.
Opening the Asean Business Club's
gala dinner, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong
cited trust as the success factor in strengthening regional bonds to another
level, namely the AEC.
After a two-hour meeting with top
business leaders, he said: "We can offer reassurance that Thailand will be
trusted by friends. Before, we focused on competition, to outperform one
another. Now, we have to work together, for the AEC."
The Asean Business Club was
launched last October as a networking forum for regional business leaders.
The club's Thailand co-chairmen
are Tos Chirativat, chief executive officer of Central Retail Corp, and
Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank.
Tuesday's event followed the
first such dinner, which was hosted in Kuala Lumpur. Another will be held in
Jakarta at the end of next month.
Achara Deboonme
Business & Investment Opportunities
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