ASEAN Secretariat

During the year 1989-1990, the ASEAN Secretariat focused its activities on the strengthening of inter-ASEAN cooperation as well as exploring ways and means of enhancing Asian’s relations with third countries and other regional and international organizations. A comprehensive study on the strengthening of the ASEAN Secretariat was also undertaken.
The Transfer of Office of the Secretary General of the ASEAN Secretariat on 17 July 1989, a ceremony was held at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta for the transfer of office of the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat. Mr. Roderick Yong of Brunei Darussalam was succeeded by Mr. Rusli Noor of Indonesia. The ceremony was also witnessed by Mr. Ali Alatas, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia and the Chairman of the Twenty-Third ASEAN Standing Committee.

Attendance at ASEAN Meetings
The Secretary-General and officers of the ASEAN Secretariat attended Ministerial meetings, annual dialogue meetings, meetings of the ASEAN Standing Committee, senior officials in various fields, ASEAN economic committees and ASEAN functional committees as well as some of their subsidiary bodies. In the said endeavours, the ASEAN Secretariat provided background and concept papers as well as assisting in the formulation of the record of the outdome of the meetings. The officers of the ASEAN Secretariat also attended conferences and seminars held under the frame-work of ASEAN relationship with the dialogue partners. Their role as the resource persons has been an accepted pattern of ASEAN meetings. Furthermore, they assisted in the meetings hosted by member countries whenever appropriate to do so.
A new development during the period under review was the convening of the Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) consisting of senior political officials, senior economic officials, and directors-general of the national ASEAN secretariats, on several occasions. The First JCM was convened in Kuala Lumpur on 13-14 October 1989. The Secretary-General chaired the said JCM and continued to do so at the subsequent JCMs. The staff of the ASEAN Secretariat provided the support papers and produced the records of the outcome of the JCMs.
The Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat also participated in the Joint Ministerial Meeting (JMM) consisting of ASEAN Foreign and Economic Ministers as secretary ex officio. The JMM was held for the first time in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia on 15 February 1990. The officers of the ASEAN Secretariat provided support and assistance as resource persons.

Attendance at meetings under the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
The Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat attended the Ministerial-Level Meeting on APEC in Canberra on 6-7 November 1989, as observer. The ASEAN Secretariat was requested to participate in meetings of the senior officials of the participating countries to make preparations for the APEC Ministerial-Level scheduled for July 1990 in Singapore.
The Secretary-General acted as Rapporteur of the APEC Senior Officials Meetings held in Singapore in March and May 1990 respectively.

Venue of ASEAN Meetings
The ASEAN Secretariat hosted the following ASEAN meetings during the year :
A development in the area of ASEAN's relations with third countries took place at the ASEAN Secretariat, as the Exchange of Letters and signing ceremony establishing ASEAN-Republic of Korea Sectoral Dialogue was done at the ASEAN Secretariat Building on 2 November 1989.
The ASEAN Secretariat was also the venue of the five meetings of the Twenty-Third ASEAN Standing Committee on 22 September 1989, 9 December 1989, 16 March 1990, 21 June 1990, and 22 July 1990 respectively.
As the ASEAN Coordinator for ASEAN-UNDP Dialogue, the ASEAN Secretariat provided a venue of two successful training seminars conducted by the UNDP on development assistance management and coordination as well as on project assessment and evaluation on 4-6 December 1989 and 5-8 June 1990 respectively.
In compliance with the assignment to coordinate the ASEAN-Pacific Human Resources Development Programme (APC-HRD), the ASEAN Secretariat hosted the Third Meeting of the Ad-Hoc Working Group on APC-HRD on 22 February 1990. Administration of ASEAN Trust Funds
The ASEAN Secretariat manages and administers the following funds :
With the establishment of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Sectoral Dialogue on 2 November 1989, it was anticipated that in the latter half of 1990 the ASEAN Secretariat would be requested to act as the trustee of a special account in Jakarta for the implementation of projects approved under the framework of the ASEAN-Republic of Korea Sectoral Dialogue.

ASEAN Day Celebrations
The 22nd Anniversary of the founding of ASEAN was celebrated on 8 August 1989 with various activities under the auspices of the ASEAN Secretariat. The ASEAN Embassies in Jakarta and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia gave enthusiastic support to the holding of sports events in celebration of the ASEAN Day. The active participation of officials and members of their families contributed to the promotion of the spirit of friendship and solidarity of ASEAN.
On 8 August 1989, a flag-raising ceremony was held at the ASEAN Secretariat premises with ASEAN Ambassadors, Diplomats, members of their family, and the staff members of the ASEAN Secretariat. The Secretary-General hosted the reception in the same evening attended by high ranking officials of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, members of the diplomatic corps, and the prominent figures from the business sector in Jakarta.

Information Services
Dissemination of information on the activities of ASEAN to the general public was normally conducted through the various publications of the ASEAN Secretariat. The members of the staff at the ASEAN Secretariat held talks, discussions and briefing to visitors including journalists, researchers, officials from ASEAN member governments and third countries, and groups of university students. The Public Information Section also supplied relevant information about ASEAN to inquirers from within and outside ASEAN, who were interested in ASEAN activities. During the period under review, there was a marked increase in the number of inquiries about ASEAN activities. The ASEAN Secretariat also held briefing for visiting politicians, parliamentarians, members of national defense colleges, groups of civil servants from various countries who wished to learn more about the machinery and substance of ASEAN cooperation.
Over 200 university students from various universities in Indonesia visited the ASEAN Secretariat on several occasions during the year under review. They were briefed on the background and various aspects of ASEAN cooperation with special emphasis on present activities and prospects for the future. Films about ASEAN were from time to time shown to give audio-visual reflection of ASEAN cooperation. Publications on ASEAN were also distributed during the said visits. Briefing and discussions also took place among the ASEAN Secretariat staff and scholars or academics conducting research on ASEAN. A new development was an increasing interest in Asian’s role and position in the concept of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
A number of publications were produced during the period under review, namely :