His Excellency,
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to be in Hanoi again. I had the great pleasure of making my first State Visit to Vietnam earlier this year and am happy to be visiting your beautiful country for a second time.

May I take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation to the Government and people of Vietnam for the warm and generous hospitality that they have extended to me and my delegation.

Allow me also to congratulate Your Excellency, Prime Minister, on your election as Chairman of the Sixth ASEAN Summit.

I am confident we will have fruitful discussions under Your Excellency's able guidance.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to Cambodia. I wish the People and Government of Cambodia every success in their national reconciliation and reconstruction efforts.

Since our last formal meeting in Bangkok in 1995 and our meeting in Kuala Lumpur last year, our region has experienced drastic setbacks.

What began as a currency crisis in July 1997 has grown into a major economic crisis affecting many other regions of the world.

It has raised unemployment and poverty levels in many of our countries and caused social and political problems.

The immediate challenge is to lift our countries out of this economic uncertainty.

We are addressing the structural weaknesses in our economies

It is vital that we regain investor confidence and keep our economies open to restore long-term prospects for our region.

We have traded freely with the rest of the world.

It is this openness to both traders and ideas, that has brought us progress and higher standards of living.

We will not be able to solve all the problems by ourselves,

We need inputs from the major economies to revive economic growth.

This is the message that ASEAN leaders must clearly send to the world.

Last year, in Kuala Lumpur, we articulated the vision of ASEAN 2020 in which there will be "a free flow of goods, services and investments, a freer flow of capital, equitable economic development and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities."

The challenges facing ASEAN are large, but not insurmountable.

ASEAN has weathered many storms and emerged stronger from them.

Over the last 31 years, ASEAN has evolved a culture of regional co-operation, bringing together a widespread region characterised by considerable political, economic and social diversity.

ASEAN is about trust, confidence and close co-operation.

This habit of co-operation must be constantly nurtured, never taken for granted.

For this, we have to thank the foresight, determination and unswerving commitment of generations of leaders and officials for helping to make ASEAN succeed.

Strong personal ties between leaders and officials has kept ASEAN strong.

Understanding, sensitivity, tolerance and support for each other constitute the basic pillars of what we refer to as the "ASEAN way."

The ASEAN way is epitomised by our tradition of conducting our affairs on the basis of equality, consultation, consensus and non-interference in the internal affairs of each other.

Adherence to these values and principles has allowed us to build a peaceful and stable regional environment that is conducive to economic growth.

We in Brunei Darussalam consider ASEAN to be an important organisation, in good and bad times.

It is the cornerstone of our external relations.

In the prevailing economic difficulties in the region, we need to work even closer and make ASEAN relevant to the world.

During the past few months, I have had the opportunity to visit many of our member countries and talk with my colleagues.

I was encouraged by a firm sense of regional unity and partnership.

My fellow ASEAN leaders realised the gravity and complexity of the problems and were determined to overcome their difficulties.

And all this without sacrificing the principles that have held ASEAN together and contributed to our success for the past thirty years.

It is particularly heartening that in spite of its problems, ASEAN has decided to push ahead with plans to promote trade and investment liberalisation.

We have to take a long-term view and look beyond our current difficulties.

I appreciate the hard work of our Ministers and officials who have continued to press on with regional economic integration and co-operation.

The ASEAN Free Trade Area and the ASEAN Investment Area would be attractive to investors.

ASEAN is at a crossroads in its history. The crisis afflicting our region is a powerful and timely reminder that we have yet to achieve the vision of our founding fathers to build a united, prosperous and stable Southeast Asia.

The tasks facing us today are no less daunting than those faced by our founding fathers in 1967.

It would take us some time to resolve the immediate financial problems.

I am hopeful that the challenges facing our region will bring all of us even closer together.

I look forward to continuing the close consultations and fruitful discussions with my fellow colleagues.

I am confident that the outcome of our deliberations over the next two days will send a clear signal to the world that ASEAN remains united, and will overcome our difficulties.

Mr. Chairman, may I wish you every success in hosting this very important series of meetings.

Thank you.