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League of Asean Dermatological Societies - League of Asean... asianderm.org |
The ASEAN Summit is an annual meeting held by ASEAN in relation to economic, and cultural development of Southeast Asian countries.[1] The grouping regularly conducts dialogue meetings with other countries in an organization collectively known as the ASEAN dialogue partners. ASEAN + 3 adds China, Japan and South Korea after the agreement of ASEAN+3 Heads of Government Summit on Nov. 2001 in Brunei. The formal summit are held in three days. The usual itinerary are as follows:
[edit] HistoryThe first ASEAN summit was held in February 1976 in Bali.[2] At this summit, ASEAN expressed its readiness to "develop fruitful relations" and mutually beneficial co-operation with other countries of the region.[3] The ASEAN leaders signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. The 2nd ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur in 1977 was the occasion for the first summit meeting between Japan and ASEAN. Japan expressed its intention to promote co-operation with ASEAN.[4] The ASEAN heads of government also met the heads of government of Australia and New Zealand. The summit called for expanding cooperation on human resource development; integrating women and youth in human resource development; eliminating poverty, disease and illiteracy; integrating population with rural development policies; providing productive jobs for low-income groups, especially in rural areas; and taking concerted action to curb the abuse and traffic in narcotics and drugs.[5] [edit] 9th SummitAt a meeting on October 7, 2003 on Bali, leaders of the members nations signed a declaration known as the Bali Concord II in which they agreed to pursue closer economic integration by 2020. According to the declaration, "an ASEAN Community" would be set upon three pillars, "namely political and security cooperation, economic cooperation, and socio-cultural cooperation...for the purpose of ensuring durable peace, stability and shared prosperity in the region." The plan envisaged a region with a population of 500 million and annual trade of US$720 billion. Also, a free trade area would be established in the region by 2020. ASEAN's leaders also discussed setting up a security community alongside the economic one, though without any formal military alliance. During the same meeting, the People's Republic of China and ASEAN have also agreed to work faster toward a mutual trade agreement, which will create the world's most populous market, with 1.7 billion consumers. Japan also signed an agreement pledging to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers with ASEAN members. [edit] 10th SummitThe summit was held in Vientiane, Laos on November 29, 2004. [edit] Thailand issuesFurther information: South Thailand insurgency Prior to the ASEAN summit, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra publicly threatened to walk out of the meeting if any member states raised the issue of the Thai government's handling of the insurgency in south Thailand. He stated "If the topic is raised, I will fly back home".[6] This is notable since leaders have often shown solidarity with each other over high profile issues such as East Timor and Myanmar's handling of Aung San Suu Kyi. Furthermore, one of the principles on which ASEAN was founded is a stated principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other member states. Any tension has been kept from the public view and leaders have avoided confrontational statements in public. Indonesia (the world's most populous Muslim country) and Malaysia however were particularly vehement in their condemnation over the Thai government's handling of the events in south Thailand with a former Malaysian Prime minister going to the extent of suggesting that the Southern Thai states should be given autonomy power. The Malaysian foreign minister further was quoted as saying that there is no such thing as absolute non-interference. It is thought that Thaksin's statement was made following the Malaysian government's passing of an opposition resolution condemning the Thai government for the death of at least 85 Muslim protestors in south Thailand. Laotian spokesman Yong Chanthalangsy stated "I think we have a golden rule, that is non-interference in the internal affairs of each other." He added "It is a courtesy among the leaders, among the ministers, that if one of the leaders does not wish to discuss a question, all the leaders will respect it." [edit] Myanmar issuesAlso prior to the 2004 summit, Myanmar has taken steps to rehabilitate itself by releasing up to 9,000 prisoners who were imprisoned under the old junta. Myanmar's new leader General Soe Win will be attending the conference and foreign minister Nyan Win has already made pre-summit press releases on Myanmar's continuing commitment for the roadmap to democracy. Myanmar was due to hold the chair of ASEAN in 2006. This however had created criticism from various factions. The United States and the European Union publicly announced that they might boycott any ASEAN-elated event if Myanmar was the chair. In July 2005, during an ASEAN foreign minister meeting in Vientiane, Myanmar decided to postpone its turn. The Philippines, the country next in line, instead held the ASEAN chair in 2006. Apart from the US, various ASEAN lawmakers have called Myanmar's membership to be stripped due to its poor human rights record.[7] [edit] 11th SummitThe 11th ASEAN summit was held from December 12-14, 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Seven main issues were discussed during the Summit. The issues are:
Immediately after the summit ended, the inaugural East Asia Summit was held. [edit] 12th SummitThe 12th summit was originally set to be hosted on Cebu island in the Philippines from December 10 to 14. However on December 8, organizers decided to move the summit schedule to January 12-15, 2007 due to Typhoon Seniang. Cebu Metropolitan Area (composed of Cebu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, and Lapu-Lapu City) jointly hosted varied events of the summit. The actual conference was held at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City while the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort & Spa in Lapu-Lapu City provided accommodations for delegates and venues for smaller meetings. On the first day of the summit, the member countries of ASEAN signed five agreements pertaining to continuing integration of ASEAN and enhancing political, economic and social cooperation in the region:[8]
[edit] 13th SummitThe 13th ASEAN Summit was held from November 18-22, 2007, in Singapore. The theme was "One ASEAN at the Heart of Dynamic Asia". The key theme of the discussions was set to be on "Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development". In line with the theme, the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Environmental Sustainability was signed at the 13th ASEAN Summit and a proposal to work on a Singapore Declaration on the Environment was issued at the 3rd East Asia Summit. The leaders had endorsed the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint which will help chart concrete targets for establishing a single market and production base in the ASEAN region by 2015. The summit marking the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-EU ties was held on November 22. Other documents that had be negotiated and signed:
[edit] 15th SummitThe 15th ASEAN Summit was held from October 23-25, 2009, in Hua Hin, Cha Am,Thailand. The 15th Asean Summit involved leaders from 10 Asean countries - Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam - together with their dialogue partners from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. A flurry of meetings among Asian leaders on the last day raised the possibility of forging a regional free trade pact, which is likely to be raised at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November 2009. [edit] Free tradeChina signed a trade deal with ASEAN.[9] At the same time, Australia and New Zealand started the negotiation for a free trade deal with ASEAN. The aim of the negotiation is to significantly reduce trade barriers by 2016.[10][11] [edit] Treaty of Amity and CooperationASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia is open for non-ASEAN states to accede. It requires the contracting parties to forgo any threat or use of force against each other. The Foreign Ministers of ASEAN member states determined that invitation to the inaugural East Asian Summit, the first of which is to be held in late 2005 and hosted by Malaysia, was to be restricted to parties to the treaty. The Howard Government in Australia, although seeking invitation, was reluctant to accede to the treaty claiming it was out of date and might conflict with obligations and rights it had under other treaties. However, with entry to the Summit confined to parties to the treaty, and with domestic pressure to sign, Australia decided in early 2005 to sign the treaty on the condition that its rights under the UN Charter are recognised as inalienable. Upon the announcement of accession, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was asked whether or not he considered himself an east Asian, he replied: "Do I consider myself an East Asian? ... I consider myself an Australian." [edit] East TimorMain article: Accession of East Timor to ASEAN The new nation of East Timor, previously ruled by Indonesia, has had a long struggle with ASEAN. East Timor, during its long process towards independence, has sought to have observer status in ASEAN, much like Papua New Guinea, and eventually official member status. Historically, ASEAN countries supported Indonesia over East Timor, with the Philippines and Malaysia barring overseas NGOs from participating in East Timor conferences in the late 1990s. More recently, Myanmar opposed granting observer status to East Timor because of the latter's support for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In 2002, East Timor was recognised as an observer of ASEAN and joined the ASEAN Regional Forum in 2005.[12][13] In December 2005, the government of East Timor stated the nation would be a member of ASEAN by 2011.[14] The nation's Prime Minister is expected to formally apply for membership at the 2006 39th Annual Ministerial Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Kuala Lumpur.[15] [edit] 14th Summit and ProtestsThe 14th ASEAN summit had two parts. A summit of the ASEAN members amongst themselves was held from February 26 to March 1, 2009 in Hua Hin, Thailand. It was originally scheduled for December 2008, but was postponed due to the political crisis in Thailand. At the summit, the ASEAN leaders signed the Cha-am Hua Hin Declaration on the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community and adopted various other documents, including the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint.[16] The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area was established.[17] It is one of Asia's largest trade arrangements and covers trade in goods, investment and services, financial services, telecommunications, electronic commerce and intellectual property.[18] The summit was reconvened in Pattaya, Thailand on April 10, 2009. This second part of the summit was to consist of various meetings between the ASEAN members and one or more non-ASEAN countries from April 10 to April 12. However, it was aborted on April 11 when hundreds of protesters forced their way past security forces into the venue[19]. Many of the visiting leaders had to be evacuated from the venue by helicopter to a nearby military airbase, although none were injured. The protests were part of the 2008–2009 Thai political crisis and were not believed to be directed at ASEAN leaders but rather at Thailand's government.[20] [edit] References
[edit] External linksOfficial and special interest:
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