“New ASEAN for the peoples needs support”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A warm welcome to you all to the ASEAN Secretariat.

Thanks for your participation in this Workshop.  And thanks to the World Bank for funding this event.

This is one of the several collaboration activities between ASEAN and the World Bank.  As you all know, ASEAN and the World Bank are also working closely in organizing and providing ASEAN-led international humanitarian assistance to the cyclone victims in Myanmar.

ASEAN has taken  the lead in this unprecedented but crucial operation because we care.  We care about  those hundreds of thousands of cyclone victims who need urgent relief to survive, decent shelters to recover, and long-term assistance to rebuild their life and livelihood.  We are doing what we can to help them.  Many of our external friends and partners appreciate our efforts and have come to join us in helping the cyclone victims.

I have even opened a coordination office in Yangon and sent my officers to run it.  This is  unprecedented in the annals of ASEAN’s 41 years of service.  But this is necessary.   We in ASEAN must persevere; we must not fail in this grueling mission.  Our reputation is at stake here.  But more importantly, the welfare and well-being of   hundreds of  thousands of villagers in the Irrawady delta ravaged by Cyclone Nargis are also at stake.

The whole world is watching ASEAN.  Our friends and partners in the international community  all want us to succeed.   And I believe we have the desire, the energy, and the compassion to go to great lengths to achieve success in this historic mission.   

The New ASEAN

What ASEAN is doing for the cyclone victims in Myanmar is what is expected of ASEAN – as a Community of Sharing and Caring.     This is the New ASEAN that puts peoples at its centre.  This is the New ASEAN that I know and you all know we deserve to have.  This is the New ASEAN that we are capable of creating, sustaining and improving to benefit all peoples.

Undoubtedly, many great initiatives in ASEAN are top-down.  The decision to start the ASEAN-led humanitarian assistance operation in Myanmar was made by ASEAN Foreign Ministers in their Special Meeting in Singapore on 19 May 2008.  The decision to have the ASEAN Charter came from ASEAN Leaders who called for the establishment of the task force to draft the Charter under guidance of ASEAN Foreign Ministers.

But in order to build the ASEAN Community and sustain its development into the 21st century, top-down leadership alone is not enough.  ASEAN needs popular support of all peoples in ASEAN – nearly 600 million now.   ASEAN also needs support from civil society organizations to help bridge the information and understanding gaps.  Civil society organizations are in a better position to acquire information and interact with ASEAN.

In the ASEAN Charter, the engagement with civil society organizations and other “entities associated with ASEAN” has been incorporated specifically in Chapter V.  The Committee of Permanent Representatives and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, according to this Chapter V, will be the key focal points in the engagement.

Just like in the case of the World Bank, ASEAN’s engagement with the civil society is evolving; although the World Bank seems to have progressed considerably in recent years.  And this is why I think we can learn a thing or two from the World Bank during this Workshop today.

Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar has opened up opportunities for ASEAN to expand engagements with not only civil society but also other various parties, such as ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners, ADB and other international organisations. Consequently, through this, confidence and support in ASEAN will be enhanced.

Popular Support Needed

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize that the commitment of all ASEAN Member States to transform ASEAN into a “people-oriented” New ASEAN  is genuine.   ASEAN needs support from the civil society in this transformation.  Popular support can further strengthen the political will and political commitment of all parties concerned in ASEAN.

On my part,  I can assure you  that I am  fully committed to building this New ASEAN in which peoples are at the centre.   You all can count on me and my ASEAN Secretariat staff as your friends and partners in this New ASEAN.