As many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) citizens
celebrate the Lunar New Year this week, I would like to take this opportunity
to express my well wishes to all. I would also like to reflect on new
beginnings and look toward the future.
As I am into my first month, many
are asking me: How I do see myself in the role of ASEAN Secretary-General, and
what do I see for ASEAN in the five years horizon.
To the first question of how I
see my role as Secretary-General of ASEAN, I am guided by the mandate of the
ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN leaders. As one entrusted by the Charter with the
demanding task of seeing through the implementation of ASEAN agreements and
decisions, as well as reporting on ASEAN’s work in the next five years, I
should be able to provide a frank and learned analysis to our ASEAN leaders to
assist them in sustaining their vision and aspirations for ASEAN.
I should also be able to promote
ASEAN and convey its common positions to our dialogue partners and other
external parties.
I believe that a large part of my
role is to lead and guide the dedicated staff of the ASEAN Secretariat. As
front-liners and the backbone of ASEAN’s operations, we serve the ASEAN member
states, the various ASEAN organs and ministerial-sectoral bodies in the
building of the ASEAN Community.
The strengthening of ASEAN
Secretariat has already received the imprimatur of our leaders and it will be
upon us to carry on the measures to make the Secretariat more efficient and
effective in the delivery of its services. To the latter question, for the next
five years, I believe that ASEAN will continue to build on the gains of the
last 45 years in the three community pillars.
In the area of peace and
security, ASEAN would still continue to provide a platform for peaceful
dialogue and cooperation among member states and with the rest of the international
community.
In doing so, I believe ASEAN has
acquired the necessary experience and confidence to consistently hurdle any
challenge to ASEAN centrality and our regional stability.
ASEAN will also continue to
deliver on the wide-ranging measures needed to transform ASEAN into a strong
economic bloc and integrate it into the global economy.
Likewise, ASEAN will continue to
invest in our people and on various areas such as culture, education, health,
environment, food security, among others, to ensure the ASEAN Community’s
well-being and resilience.
But more than building on our
achievements, I also see the next five years as the reckoning time for us — a
time for reflection and greater action.
ASEAN will be hitting two
critical milestones. By the end of 2015, we should already have achieved our
target of creating the ASEAN Community.
In 2017, we will also be
celebrating 50 years of ASEAN’s founding.
To build the ASEAN Community, we
need to implement various ASEAN agreements and decisions by translating
regional commitments into national actions.
We must strengthen ASEAN
mechanisms and processes, and coordinate various plans and actions — especially
in issues that cut across the three pillars. Greater support from the general
public, civil society, business groups, etc would be indispensable, thus, we
need to redouble our efforts in communicating and fostering a greater
understanding of ASEAN.
Increasingly, the world is
watching ASEAN, and consequently, they need to learn more about our vision and
commitments within and outside the region.
Since my first day on the job, I
have given my full support to efforts in conducting more rigorous public
outreach and welcomed media through the gates of the Secretariat.
We are reviewing our roadmap to
the ASEAN Community 2009-2015 with its three community blueprints. There is
also the possibility of the ASEAN Summit deciding to review the ASEAN Charter.
This review process would enable
us to stock-take our progress as a Community. More importantly, this time in
ASEAN’s history would not only engage us to do more soul-searching on the
direction and future of our organization, but also present an opportunity for
us to affirm our commitment to ASEAN’s future.
With all these in store for the
next five years, I, together with the ASEAN Secretariat, have pledged to work
closely with the ASEAN member states, as we move further into 2015 and beyond.
Le Luong Minh
The writer is the Secretary-General of ASEAN for the period 2013-2017.
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