ASEAN Secretariat, 2 May 2008

The Secretary-General of ASEAN welcomes the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of  the appointment of Mr. Scot Marciel as the U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN.

“This is a clear and significant gesture of the USA towards ASEAN,” said Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.

Mr. Marciel is in an excellent position to further develop ASEAN-USA relationship, because he has good understanding of ASEAN and a firm grasp how the comprehensive U.S. interests in Southeast Asia can be advanced through cooperation with ASEAN as a group, added Dr. Surin.

Mr. Marciel, who is concurrently the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Southeast Asia,  has become the first U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN.  And the USA is the first Dialogue Partner of ASEAN to have appointed its Ambassador to ASEAN.

Under the ASEAN Charter, Dialogue Partners of ASEAN are encouraged to appoint their respective Ambassadors to ASEAN to work with the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN in Jakarta.

Dr. Surin and Mr. Marciel are scheduled to meet in Jakarta on the sidelines of the Government Leaders Forum – Asia, organised jointly by Microsoft and the Government of Indonesia, 7-9 May 2008.