Secretary-General of ASEAN
At the Third Asia Economic Forum on “Leadership Needs and Challenges in the Twenty-First Century: Asian Perspective”
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 2-5 April 2007
Asia today is very different from what it was 40 years ago when ASEAN was founded in Bangkok on 8 August 1967. As diverse as it was and still is, many countries in Asia have transformed themselves into modern developed and developing nations through extraordinary leadership.
Allow me to focus my talk on ASEAN.
When ASEAN was founded 40 years ago by the then Leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, their aims were (1) to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development, and (2) to promote regional peace and stability in the region.
By 1999, with five additional members (Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Laos Myanmar, and Cambodia), the leadership pursues an ASEAN Vision 2020 that expanded the vision of ASEAN to “a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership, in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies”.
Today ASEAN is in the process of community building based on three pillars: the ASEAN Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community. By 2015, before ASEAN turns 50, the leadership wants to have the ASEAN Community in place.
This progress is remarkable considering that the integration efforts have started to intensify just a little more than a decade ago with the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) initiative.
ASEAN is also increasingly recognized in Asia and the world.
H.E. Mr. Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his address to the Indonesian Council on World Affairs in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 16 February 2000, referred to the region as "not only a well-functioning, indispensable reality in the region. It is a real force to be reckoned with far beyond the region. It is also a trusted partner of the United Nations in the field of development".
ASEAN has been instrumental in the recent efforts to foster economic integration in East Asia. It brought together the Leaders of China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand to its East Asia Summit two years ago. This is in addition to the ASEAN+3 cooperation that has been expanding and strengthening over the past decade.
While it is true that regional economic integration has so far been market led, many ASEAN initiatives have been adopted by the Leaders to facilitate this integration process through various trade and investment liberalization and facilitation measures. They have been serving as catalysts to integration in their respective areas.
From my own experience as the Secretary-General of ASEAN over the past four years, I can say that it is the shared vision of the ASEAN Leaders that has guided the region towards closer cooperation and economic integration, persevering through tough times including the 1997-1998 financial crisis. And it is their strong leadership and commitment that contribute to the timely implementation of regional initiatives thus far. There have been some hiccups along the way, but these too have been resolved through the consultative and consensual statesmanship and shared sense of common purpose.
Through yet another initiative of the ASEAN Leaders, ASEAN is currently working on its Charter to give the grouping its legal personality as well as to further strengthen its cooperation through enhanced structure and decision making mechanism.
Regional economic integration in Asia is an on-going process and while ASEAN is intensifying its efforts to build the ASEAN Community, it is also committed to integrate itself with the rest of the world as well as to maintain its central role in fostering economic integration in East Asia.
These are challenging tasks and further progress would require fresh thinking and visionary leadership, one that does not confine only to national interests but an ambition that also embraces regional prosperity as a shared goal.
For example, community building would be significantly facilitated by the more advanced ASEAN Member Countries to assist their less developed counterparts to accelerate their economic development and narrow the development gaps.
To allow community building to progress substantially, the views of all stakeholders must be accounted for while attention should be on what can be achieved, not on what to be protected and preserved. Status quo is always an option but it should not be the option if ASEAN is to be competitive, on the centre stage and in the driver’s seat of wider regional cooperation and economic integration.
All negotiations, and I expect a lot of them going forward, should be carried out with an open mind. Some times the second best option or solution may not necessarily be bad if it allows the community building process to move forward. As the saying goes, “Do not let the best be the enemy of the good” or if I may borrow the famous remarks of Mr. Deng Xiaoping, “It does not matter whether the cat is black or white; as long as it catches mice, it is a good cat”.
From above broad picture, let me dwell on 5 principles of leadership by ASEAN Leaders, namely:
- look at the big picture; have a vision
- think strategic; innovate and be creative
- work together; go for multi-stakeholdership
- accept that one size does not fit all; the ASEAN Way
- develop substance; avoid expensive institutions.
Thank you and have a good day.
