By Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN - Working towards economic growth and social progress while respecting individual cultures and religions might seem like an impossible task for a group of countries from the developing world.
It isn’t, though, for the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) member countries who saw these objectives achieved ever since they came together 42 years ago this week.
Established on August 8, 1967, in Bangkok, ASEAN’s goal was to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region that is today populated by more than 560 million.
“The association has been successful in turning the member countries of ASEAN into a successful and united family,” Dato Paduka Haj Mohammad Daud, Brunei Darussalam’s ambassador to the Kingdom who also serves as ASEAN’s chairman here, told The Jordan Times in an interview last week.
“The association has instilled cooperative spirit and deep understanding among its members, whereby conflicts and differences in opinions are set aside and discussed in a harmonious and friendly atmosphere,” he added.
In addition to his role as Brunei Darussalam’s envoy to Jordan, Haj Mohammad Daud is also tasked with promoting ASEAN and its role at both regional and international levels.
“My aim is to raise the profile of ASEAN member countries in the Kingdom as well as to enlighten Jordanians on the ASEAN objectives and visions,” he said, adding that “as one of the ASEAN member countries that has diplomatic ties with Jordan, Brunei Darussalam feels very proud and happy with the warm, friendly and close relations between the two countries”.
The diplomat said that the recent exchange of visits by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah contributed to concluding various agreements of cooperation in many fields, the military and defence, education, economy, religious affairs, culture and tourism among others.
Brunei Darussalam, which joined the association in 1984 after becoming convinced that the union would bring about security, prosperity and rapid development in every aspect, the envoy said, is one of the nine ASEAN countries that cover an area of 4.5 million square kilometres.
The five founding countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, were later joined by Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia. Working together, they have a combined gross domestic product of around $1,100 billion; their total trade stands at around $1.4 billion.
In addition to its economic outlook, during its 30th anniversary, ASEAN leaders agreed on a shared vision of Southeast Asian nations of looking outwards, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies, according to the ambassador.
In 2003, the ASEAN leaders decided to have the community built on a security, economic and socio-cultural basis. Agreeing that their relations, as outlined in the Treaty and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, must be based on mutual respect for their independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and the national identity of all nations, ASEAN today sets an excellent example for similar regional initiatives, he added.
Indonesia’s Ambassador to Jordan Zainulbahar Noor said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times last week that his country, an ASEAN founder, plays a significant role in helping boost the association’s integrity, “to become a self-reliant and socio-cultural community”.
With the biggest economy in the Southeast Asia region and a population of more than 240 million people, the fourth most populous country in the ASEAN, Noor said that his country aims to achieve a 4.5 per cent economic growth this year despite the international economic crisis.
He also highlighted that investments in the Indonesian oil and gas industry are expected to reach $16.6 billion by the end of this year.
Being a country of ancient traditions, civilisations and great diversity, Indonesia is also one of the most important tourism destinations worldwide, with around five million tourists from around the world visiting the country annually since 2000, said the ambassador, adding that Indonesia has over 40,000 species of plants, 3,000 species of fish, 1,500 species of birds and 500 species of mammals.
“With the size of its land and water territory of around 6.1 million square kilometres, Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands and is a country whose cultural and religious diversity is the inheritance of 250 ethnic groups and 500 local languages, though 90 per cent of Indonesians are Muslims,” Noor said.
“ASEAN has achieved significant progress and is on course to realising the vision and dream of its founders,” said Isinthorn Sornvai, ambassador of Thailand to Jordan, adding that over the past four decades, ASEAN has evolved “from a small forum focusing primarily on economic, social and cultural issues to tackling problems faced by many of the regions inhabitants”.
“The association has grown from an unknown entity in Southeast Asia to an internationally recognised and respected regional grouping,” Sornvai said, adding that since its creation more than four decades ago, ASEAN has seen various political and security cooperation agreements as well as dialogue among member countries.
He added that ASEAN member states have succeeded in extending their reach beyond the region through cultivating internal relations with countries in the Asia-Pacific region as well as with the GCC countries.
“ASEAN is currently involved in dialogue with the EU, the US, Canada, China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Russia,” said Sornvai.
Although it is known as a Buddhist Kingdom, or “Kingdom of the yellow robes”, other major religions are practised in Thailand, namely Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Christianity, the Thai envoy said, adding that under the Thai constitution, everyone has the right to choose what to believe in.
Thailand, which is one of the oldest countries in the world, has been playing a proactive role in both bilateral and multilateral frameworks of cooperation, he said.
“We have bilateral relations with 195 countries, with 92 embassies, consulates generals, consular offices and trade and economic offices representing Thailand all over the world,” he said, adding that his country has been a member of the UN since 1946 and as a founding member of ASEAN, it works to promote cooperative peace and shared prosperity in the Southeast Asian region.
Sornvai said he hoped “that ASEAN countries and Jordan will enjoy further success in the promotion of mutual understanding and friendly relations in the interest of their peoples”.
Malaysian Ambassador to Amman Dato Abdul Malek Bin Abdul Aziz, whose country is also a founding member of ASEAN, told The Jordan Times that “it is our hope to gear ASEAN towards becoming an organisation that is people-oriented, business friendly, competitive and integrated”.
He added that the association would be the gateway to the market in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world by improving relations with its collaborative and partner countries and strengthening ties and cooperation based on mutual understating and respect.
“ASEAN has embarked on sustainable programmes based on a shared vision encompassing social, cultural, economic and security aspects that would promote regional peace and stability,” Bin Abdul Aziz, whose country has a population of more than 25.7 million, said.
Emphasising the importance of relations between ASEAN member states and the Kingdom, the envoy highlighted the “distinguished” ties which have existed between Jordan and Malaysia since 1965. The Malaysian embassy opened in Amman in 1994.
“The visits of Their Majesties King Yang di-Pertuan Agong to Jordan in September 2006 and King Abdullah to Malaysia in May 2008 manifested the close cooperation in the political and diplomatic spheres,” the ambassador said, adding that during a meeting between the two sides’ foreign ministers in New York last year, they agreed to establish a Malaysia-Jordan joint commission to further expand cooperation.
He also said that the trade volume between the two countries amounted to around $635 million in 2008, with Malaysian exports to the Kingdom, which included mainly palm oil, wooden products, manufactured metal, electrical and electronic appliances and processed food items, amounting to $509 million.
Joint cooperation in the education sector is also expanding, the ambassador said, adding that currently there are approximately 800 Malaysian students pursuing their higher education in various specialities, such as medicine, dentistry, Arabic and Islamic studies.
“It is expected that the number of Malaysian students in Jordan will increase to surpass 1,000 by the end of 2009,” he said, adding that relevant officials from the two countries are reviewing a previously signed memorandum of understating on educational cooperation to make it more comprehensive.
“Jordan has all the potential to become a competitive destination for tourists,” he said, adding that Malaysian tourists’ flow into the Kingdom went up by 36.4 per cent in 2008, to reach 7,087, compared to 5,196 in 2007.
The ambassador of the Philippines to Jordan, Julius Torres, said in its 42nd years of existence, ASEAN has been instrumental not only to bringing peace and security to the Southeast Asian region but also to improving the lives of its peoples.
“Although full economic integration is yet to be achieved, ASEAN marches on to forge a community of one vision and destiny,” Torres said, adding that the association aspires not only at raising the profile of its members in Jordan but also to increase awareness of ASEAN among Jordanians.
He pointed out that ASEAN has also reached out to the rest of the world through mechanisms such as the ASEAN+3 cooperation with China, Japan and Korea, the ASEAN Regional Forum, ASEAN EU meeting, and formal dialogue with other countries and organisations.
The association member countries agreed to take important steps towards economic integration such as accelerating regional integration by 2010 in air travel, agro-based products, textiles and apparels, tourism and wood-based products.
The ASEAN members also decided to facilitate the movement of businessmen and skilled labourers, and to strengthen the institutional mechanisms, including improving the existing ASEAN dispute settlement mechanism, to ensure expeditious and legally binding resolution of any economic disputes.
As of January 1, 2005, tariffs on almost 99 per cent of the products in the ASEAN-6 inclusion list (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) have been reduced to less than 5 per cent.
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