Asean needs to form a core decision-making mechanism as the regional
organisation faces various regional challenges, a Thammasat University forum
was told yesterday.
Zhang Xizhen, a lecturer visiting
Pridi Banomyong International College of Thammasat University, said Asean's
unity had become weaker and the bloc was now significantly divided because of a
lack of core leadership.
Mr Zhang said other international
organisations have core decision makers such as the United Nations with five
permanent members while the European Union had Germany and France.
Asean in the past decades had a
number of decisive national leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, former
Indonesian president Suharto and Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia. Mr Zhang said
Asean had been able to resolve contentious issues as a result.
Now that Asean has been enlarged
and connects with several major powers such as those in East Asia, without core
leadership the grouping was therefore facing difficulties in steering its
direction, Mr Zhang said.
He said that, unlike in the past,
Asean has faced difficulty in reaching a consensus in dealing with the South
China Sea issue, as some members in maritime disputes with China wanted to
address the matter strongly but others did not.
He said the return of the US to
addressing regional affairs could make it difficult for Asean to find a balance
between its relationship with competing superpowers.
He suggested that Indonesia and
Singapore should take up roles as the core leaders of Asean.
The problem of Thailand in
playing a leading role was the country did not have strong leadership,
political stability or a robust economy, he said.
Ralf Emmers, an academic from S
Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technology University,
Singapore, said the South China Sea problem undermined two core principles of
Asean - neutrality and solidarity.
Prapat Thepchatree, director of
Thammasat University's Centre of Asean Studies, said Asean, with an estimated
economic size of US$8 trillion in 2030, was confronting multi-pronged
challenges ranging from improvements in democracy, human rights issues and
political progress in Myanmar, to border disputes.
Mr Prapat said the Asean
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) remained a limited tool
for addressing the rights issue.
Asean defence and military
cooperation, which is still in its infancy, also needs to integrate more with
other global players, Mr Prapat said.
Suthiphand Chirathivat, executive
director of Chulalongkorn University's Asean Studies Center, suggested that
development of small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) was the way forward for
Asean in the lead-up to the Asian Economic Community (AEC).
But there would be several
obstacles within Asean, particularly Thailand, as governments in the bloc
lacked coherent strategic policy support for AEC implementation, Mr Suthiphand
said.
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Health care and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN 's area. We are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, if any request, please, contact directly Dr Christian SIODMAK, business strategist, owner and CEO of SBC at christian.siodmak@gmail.com. Many thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment