Asian leaders to tackle crisis

Asian leaders meet here this
weekend to discuss ways to
deepen economic ties further in
order to sustain the region's
rebound from the recent global
downturn, diplomats and
analysts said.
With parts of the region still
reeling from natural disasters,
the leaders are also expected to
grapple with ways to improve
rescue capabilities and facilitate
the delivery of humanitarian aid,
they said.
The annual Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
summit and related meetings
with key regional partners will
kick off Friday at this elite beach
resort in Thailand amid tight
security.
The Asean summit involving
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam will be followed by
talks with Australia, China, India,
Japan, New Zealand and South
Korea.
Asia's quick rebound from the
global recession compared with
the United States and other
Western economies is expected
to set the mood for talks on
further freeing up the flow of
trade, investment and people
across the region.
"Asia is poised to take on a
bigger role on the global stage
after the dust from the
economic crisis has settled," a
senior Southeast Asian trade
official told AFP.
"Integration is the key to
unlocking Asia's full potential.
Furthermore, the recovery
needs to be sustained for the
long term, so the right policies
must be put in place early."
Bridget Welsh, a Southeast Asia
expert at the Singapore
Management University, said
Asean's newly ratified charter
"provides more accountability on
progress for economic
integration."
Integration "is one means of
buffering the vulnerability of
Asean toward economic changes
globally," Welsh said, adding
however that achieving it will be
an "uphill battle."
Central to the integration
efforts is Asean's goal to
establish a single market and
manufacturing base by 2015, and
expanding trade and economic
links to include its major regional
trading partners such as China
and India.
"Asean is well on its way to
integrate into one regional
community by 2015 in line with
its charter," the grouping's
Secretary-General Surin
Pitsuwan told reporters in
Bangkok on Wednesday.
He said that within the past
decade, the bloc's combined
export value jumped three-fold
to 1.7 trillion dollars from 576
billion dollars. Trade within the
region of nearly 600 million
people also increased four-fold,
he said.
In the same period, Asean's
trade with Japan and the
European Union also increased
three-fold, with China and
Australia it had multiplied 10-fold,
and with India it had jumped six-
fold, Pitsuwan added.
Singapore Foreign Minister
George Yeo said in remarks
published Wednesday that one
key issue will be how to increase
Southeast Asia's links by air,
land, water and information
technology with emerging Asian
powers China and India.
"If we Asean, in our own
integration, make sure that our
links connect to theirs, not only
will Asean be linked to China and
India -- we'll also link China and
India together," Yeo said in an
interview with Singapore's
Straits Times.
He said the Asean leaders will
task a group to study the
details of expanding the links.
The environment will also be a
major topic, with Asean leaders
expected to issue a statement in
support of global talks in
Copenhagen in December for a
new climate change treaty,
other diplomats said.
Asean and its partner nations
are also expected to issue
statements on food security
cooperation and disaster
management.
As in previous Asean summits,
military-ruled Myanmar's
continued detention of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
is likely to come under the
spotlight.
A campaign to have her and
other political prisoners freed will
take on special significance as it
coincides with Asean's launch
during the meeting of a body
aimed at promoting human rights
in the region, analysts said.
It also comes at a time of a
major policy shift by the United
States to re-engage the junta
despite opposing some of its
policies and maintaining sanctions.
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