The 14th ASEAN two-day summit, which closed on March 1 in Hua Hin, Thailand, introduced a new era of ASEAN with cooperation at its heart.
State and government heads from all ten ASEAN member countries gathered to discuss “the ASEAN Charter for ASEAN Peoples” in their first meeting since the document came into effect last December.
At the summit, which focused on three sub-themes concerning community building, regional resilience against global threats, and reinforcing ASEAN centrality, leaders of the ten member states signed the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Roadmap for the ASEAN Community during 2009-2015.
The declaration comprises three closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing pillars - Political-Security Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community - for the purpose of ensuring durable peace, stability and shared prosperity in the region.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva pointed to the importance of the summit as the first one under the new ASEAN Charter, which serves as a blueprint for the Association’s common future.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said ASEAN should strengthen its financial and banking mechanisms to reinforce safety and increase investors’ and businesses’ confidence.
It is also necessary to boost financial and monetary cooperation within ASEAN and with countries having a strong economy and abundant foreign-currency reserves, such as China, Japan and South Korea, Mr. Dung said.
He also underlined the need to develop cooperation within ASEAN based on the general framework agreement and food security action strategy during 2009-13 and consider the possibility of setting up an ASEAN-Plus-Three Emergency Rice Reserve.
Many agreements were signed at the summit, including a free trade deal with Australia and New Zealand; the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement; the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement; the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement; and the ASEAN joint statement on food security.-