The Euro Press Image (EPI) portal on April 28 posted an article on the26th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, that took place on the preceding twodays, highlighting ASEAN’s bid to strengthen cooperation anddiplomacy towards the formation of an ASEAN Community by the end of2015.
The piece quoted Malaysian Prime Minister NajibTun Abdul Razak ’s opening speech, in which he said that 2015 is animportant milestone in the history of ASEAN as the vision of a singlecommunity will be realised by the end of the year, creating a foundationthat allows the 10 member states to strengthen solidarity and deepenintegration in the next decade.
The article agreed that theformation of the ASEAN Community marks the significant progress of thebloc in the past few decades and argued that this has promoted deeperregional integration.
It also pointed out the challenges thatASEAN might have to face in the time ahead, particularly in the contextof fierce competition among global powers in the Asia-Pacific. It alsowarned about non-traditional challenges such as the terrorist activitiesof extremist Islamic organisations, the existing tensions in the KoreanPeninsula and the ongoing lack of peace in the Middle East, amongothers.
According to the selection, after nearly 40 years ofdevelopment, ASEAN has gained achievements and gradually reinforced itsposition in regional and international affairs.
T he creationof an ASEAN Community by the end of 2015 will mark animportant milestone in the process of integration, creating asolid foundation for cooperation in all fields between membercountries and consolidating the strength of ASEAN bothpolitically and economically, the article added.
However, ASEANmembers, especially countries who play a large role in the bloc -such as Indonesia , Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore - should domore to promote global cooperation and consensus in the region,particularly through confidence building measures.
Thearticle reckoned that the “building a strategic trust” initiative, whichwas launched by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at theShangri-la Dialogue Forum in Singapore in May 2013, isconsidered the "red line" for the ASEAN countries motivated tobuild a close relationship and trust for their mutual interests ,security, stability and prosperity.-VNA
The piece quoted Malaysian Prime Minister NajibTun Abdul Razak ’s opening speech, in which he said that 2015 is animportant milestone in the history of ASEAN as the vision of a singlecommunity will be realised by the end of the year, creating a foundationthat allows the 10 member states to strengthen solidarity and deepenintegration in the next decade.
The article agreed that theformation of the ASEAN Community marks the significant progress of thebloc in the past few decades and argued that this has promoted deeperregional integration.
It also pointed out the challenges thatASEAN might have to face in the time ahead, particularly in the contextof fierce competition among global powers in the Asia-Pacific. It alsowarned about non-traditional challenges such as the terrorist activitiesof extremist Islamic organisations, the existing tensions in the KoreanPeninsula and the ongoing lack of peace in the Middle East, amongothers.
According to the selection, after nearly 40 years ofdevelopment, ASEAN has gained achievements and gradually reinforced itsposition in regional and international affairs.
T he creationof an ASEAN Community by the end of 2015 will mark animportant milestone in the process of integration, creating asolid foundation for cooperation in all fields between membercountries and consolidating the strength of ASEAN bothpolitically and economically, the article added.
However, ASEANmembers, especially countries who play a large role in the bloc -such as Indonesia , Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore - should domore to promote global cooperation and consensus in the region,particularly through confidence building measures.
Thearticle reckoned that the “building a strategic trust” initiative, whichwas launched by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at theShangri-la Dialogue Forum in Singapore in May 2013, isconsidered the "red line" for the ASEAN countries motivated tobuild a close relationship and trust for their mutual interests ,security, stability and prosperity.-VNA
