Asean OKs chairmanship of Myanmar in 2014

BALI – Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) approved yesterday the chairmanship of Myanmar in 2014, citing the positive developments in that country that was being pressed by the international community to democratize.

The ASEAN also issued the Bali Declaration on ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations seeking to have a united and stronger ASEAN voice on world issues.

ASEAN leaders President Aquino, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Brunei Darussalam Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak signed the agreement.

They also witnessed the signing of the agreement on the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management by the ASEAN ministers.

On Myanmar, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said leaders “have reached a consensus” and all of them were “in agreement that there have been significant development in Myanmar.”

“This is not about the past, but of the future,” Natalegawa said in a press briefing.

The Philippines supported the ASEAN chairmanship of Myanmar as well as its hosting of summits but stressed it would want to see more reforms.

The Bali Declaration, on the other hand, seeks “a more coordinated, cohesive and coherent” ASEAN position on global issues and strengthen cooperation on political, economic, security and socio-cultural aspects.

“The spirit of (Bali Declaration) is to have greater participation and contribution of ASEAN to achieve a more peaceful, just, democratic and prosperous world,” Yudhoyono, this year’s ASEAN chairman, said.

Migrant workers

Meanwhile, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said in a press conference at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center that the Philippines proposed a more binding agreement on migrant workers among the ASEAN members to provide them more protection.

“As you know, we have about 8.6 to 10 million Filipinos living and working overseas. So the issue of migrant workers’ protection is very important for the Philippines. ASEAN is moving on a number of fronts to put in place protocols, procedures for better protection of migrant workers. And so, the Philippines lent its voice of support for ASEAN to move in that direction,” Carandang said.

He said the Philippines was backed by Indonesia, which also has a large number of overseas workers.

Inclusive growth

Carandang said the West Philippine Sea issue was discussed together with other initiatives of the ASEAN.

“But what struck me as a little different was the number of countries who mentioned the importance of inclusive growth… Most of them would talk about the context of what’s happening in the world today. I think Prime Minister Najib of Malaysia said it very dramatically. He said if you look at what’s happening in the world today – the economies in Europe and America and the problems that that is creating both politically and economically, there seems to be a greater need at least on the part of ASEAN leaders to emphasize inclusive growth,” Carandang said.

He said with the political and economic problems that had risen in countries, “one of the things that people seem to be complaining about in many countries is the unevenness of economic growth, the unevenness of opportunity.”

He said with the political and economic problems that had risen in countries, “one of the things that people seem to be complaining about in many countries is the unevenness of economic growth, the unevenness of opportunity.”

“To some extent, what happened in the Middle East and North Africa was a reaction to that. When you have people in New York, the different parts of America, the occupy Wall Street people, they’re talking about uneven growth. So what I think we’ve seen here in ASEAN—and this is sort of the context in which I believe the leaders were talking about it—was uneven growth ultimately can lead to political instability.”

“And if you want to grow the economy and at the same time keep your political situation stable, the benefits of growth must be felt by wider percentage of the population and I think that’s where we’re all on the same page when we were making references to equitable growth,” Carandang said.

Not at opening session

The President missed the opening plenary session of the ASEAN leaders’ summit here as he had to attend to the issue involving former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was barred by the Department of Justice from leaving the country despite a temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court on the watchlist order against her.

The President was represented by Carandang, who said Aquino’s a bilateral meeting with Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra would also have to be reset.

Aquino is set to meet with US President Barack Obama today and attend to other summits.

In the press conference, Carandang was asked by the foreign media about Aquino’s absence at the plenary as well as the  case of Arroyo.

“As I said (Wednesday), the President was attending to a domestic matter which led him to delay his arrival by about almost a day. The President arrived at about noon (yesterday) and he is presently engaged in the ASEAN leaders’ retreat. He will be here for the duration of the summit and all the other meetings that were scheduled. So I don’t believe that that’s an issue anymore,” Carandang said.