LookAtVietnam – Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded their annual meeting yesterday after focusing mainly on ways to tackle emerging regional problems and implementing the ASEAN Charter.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem (fifth from right) with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and other ASEAN foreign ministers at the opening ceremony of the 42nd ASEAN ministerial meeting.

The ministers endorsed Rules of Procedures for the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, which will be based in Jakarta and is designed to strengthen co-operation among ASEAN member states and enhance relations with external partners.

The ministers also extended until the 15th ASEAN Summit in October a legal group’s mandate to resolve legislative disputes arising from the ASEAN Charter. The next summit is expected to take place on Phuket island.

Speaking at the plenary session, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem emphasised that ASEAN would realise its goals of building a strong community, while tackling many challenges, such as the adverse effects of the global economic crisis.

He said the region needed strong political determination to effectively implement the roadmap towards establishing a community and bring the ASEAN Charter to life.

He said ASEAN needed to boost co-operation within the 10-member community, as well as pay attention to strengthening comprehensive relations with partners.

The deputy prime minister affirmed that regional co-operation frameworks such as ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, ASEAN Regional Summit (ARF), East Asia Summit (EAS) have become important channels for dialogue, contributing to promote peace, stability and development.

The ministers also endorsed the terms of reference (TOR) for the first-ever ASEAN human rights body, which reflects a “maximum consensus” among ASEAN member states, according to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya at a press conference on Sunday.

The “ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights”, will be subjected to adoption by ASEAN leaders at the next summit and its TOR will be reviewed every five years.

Speaking to the media, Kasit declared the summit a resounding success.

“There was no disappointment. I think we left the room very happy indeed that we will continue to work together to push ASEAN forward,” Kasit said.

Earlier, at the meeting’s opening ceremony, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva praised ASEAN’s collective efforts as a regional bloc to address various emerging challenges including the global economic crisis, cooking and energy security and the outbreak of influenza A (H1N1).

“We have proven our resilience time and again and are on our way to building a community that will be more competitive, relevant and caring to our peoples,” Abhisit said.

The Thai prime minister also underlined the need for ASEAN member states, to implement the ASEAN Charter and establish the ASEAN Community by 2015.

“We must show to the world that ASEAN is ready to meet any challenge and is well-prepared to act decisively,” he said.

The ministers are due to meet their Asian partners from China, Japan and South Korea within the framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum tomorrow before the official commencement of the 16th (ARF) on Thursday.

On the sidelines of ARF, US Secretary Hillary Clinton is scheduled to sign a long-awaited Treaty of Amity and Co-operation in Southeast Asia (TAC), following what is seen as five years of neglect during relations George W Bush’s tenure as president.

ASEAN comprises 10 Southeast Asia countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News