The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is fostering internal and external cooperation to cope with regional and global challenges to realize its target of becoming a community by 2015, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
"Leaders of ASEAN countries have been putting forth sound policies and measures to lead the association to the right way. They are stepping up intra-linkages strongly, and expanding cooperation in all fields: economy, trade, politics, security, culture and society," Dung said.
Founded on Aug. 8, 1967, the ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The 12th ASEAN Summit in January in the Philippines decided to establish the ASEAN community by 2015, five years ahead the initial schedule.
The block is expected to approve its charter later this year in Singapore, creating legal foundation and institutional framework for the process of building the community, Dung said.
Being a large market and attractive economic entity, the ASEAN actively beefs up relations with non-block members, especially with China, the United States, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Russia, the European Union, Canada and New Zealand.
"The ASEAN has successfully initiated and played a key role in many other big regional cooperation processes in the Asia-Pacific, much helping facilitate and connect regional linkages," the prime minister said.
To cope with regional and global challenges, ASEAN countries will harmonize their national interests with common interests of the whole block, streamline and raise cooperation efficiency of the ASEAN apparatus, narrow development gaps, especially those between old and new members, and maintain the leading role of facilitating and connecting regional linkages at different levels, especially economic and trade ones in the Asia-Pacific region, the prime minister said.
"The ASEAN should ensure the unity in diversity based on the fact that common principal interests of member countries are maintaining peace, stability and development in each country as well as the whole region ... The ASEAN needs to reform its organizational structure and operation mechanism to remove the image of an ASEAN having many ideas but limited implementation," he said.
The block should bring into play the "ASEAN Way", characterized by the principles of tolerance, restraint, accommodation, consensus, consultation, equality and national resilience, and maintain the consensus principle because it is a key factor which ensures solidarity, unity and success of the ASEAN, he said.
The prime minister said: "It is difficult to realize the target of forming the ASEAN community if the development gaps among ASEAN members still exist. The establishment of a special fund for narrowing the gap and better implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration will much help realize this target."
Besides, the ASEAN should "keep on expanding and maintaining balanced relations with outside partners, and maintaining its decisive role in dealing with regional issues."
With such orientations and measures, the ASEAN is stepping nearer to its biggest target: becoming the ASEAN community by 2015 with three main pillars: the security community, the economic community, and the cultural and social community.
"With the common vision and strong determination of all member countries, along with the cooperation and assistance of outside partners, we firmly believe that the ASEAN will continue to succeed in realizing the target of constructing the ASEAN community," said the prime minister.
Source: Xinhua
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