INDONESIA offers its firm support to Brunei who will be taking over the
ASEAN Chairmanship from Cambodia next year.
This was said by Indonesia's
Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Dr Marty Natalegawa during a
courtesy call from ASEAN journalists participating in a workshop on Reporting
on "Regional Integration in Southeast Asia: History, Institutions and
Policies of ASEAN", organised by the International Institute for Journalism-GIZ
on Monday.
Speaking at Gedung Pancasila of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, Marty said that next year was very
important as well as a challenge for Brunei in leading the regional grouping of
10 member states.
"Of course next year it will
be especially important and given Brunei a challenge (to chair) ASEAN 2013 and
we look forward not only to strengthening Indonesia bilateral relations but
also working very closely with Brunei as it discharge its role to chair the
ASEAN in 2013," said Marty.
Brunei becomes ASEAN chair next
year after Indonesia requested for a swap so the latter could hold the
chairmanship in 2011. The decision was made during the 16th ASEAN Summit in Ha
Noi, Vietnam in 2010.
The ASEAN Charter provides for
the rotation of the chairmanship based on alphabetical order of the 10
member-states. ASEAN, a region with a combined population of more than 600
million and a nominal gross domestic product exceeding US$1.8 trillion, has
been strengthening ties with its dialogue partners to address issues pertaining
to economy, politics, security, people's welfare and humanitarian assistance.
Formed on August 8, 1967 the
grouping comprises Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.
On the bilateral front, Marty
lauded the closer ties between Indonesia-Brunei in various areas, including
defence and investment, while seeking broaden cooperation in the fields of
ensuring food security and renewable energy.
"We view our relations with
Brunei as quiet significant..(there has been) intensification of dialogue and
cooperation, he said, adding that the cooperation in defence area has been
realised including the procurementof weapon system and transportation such as
naval vessels.
These are some of the progress we
have made with Brunei Darussalam, the foreign minister said.
Last year, Brunei granted its
former two Waspada class patrol boats after their 33 years of service with the
Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
Beside joint military exercise,
both countries also carry out programmes of exchange visits of top-notch
military officers as well as attending courses at the National Resilience
Institute (Lemhanas) in Jakarta and Brunei's Joint Staff Course and Executive
Development Programme.
SALLY PIRI
The brunei Times
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