DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “ASEAN urged to promote regional integration” plus 9 more

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- The members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should bring the treaties ratified into practice in their joint endeavor to realize the ASEAN Community by 2015, a top official said here Sunday.

Speaking at a press briefing at the ongoing ASEAN summit, ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said that participating leaders, in their talks, have been satisfied with the progress made in seeking regional integration.

"Some 74-75 percent of major instruments of cooperation among ASEAN members on establishing the community have been ratified by the member states," Pitsuwan said. However, he stressed that ratification of the instruments is not end of the work. "Each member state will have to bring the treaties to implementation and practice from regional level down to the state level."

The summit took place against the complicated backdrop of lingering eurozone debt crisis, turbulence in the Middle East and U.S. fiscal cliff. All this would dampen the economic growth of ASEAN, said the secretary-general.

The average economic growth rate of ASEAN is estimated to reach 5.1-5.2 percent, while economy of Indonesia, which has its own resources and market, will continue to grow beyond 6 percent.

Pitsuwan also urged ASEAN nations to guard against non-tariff measures and non-tariff barriers in tackling challenges the 10- member grouping is facing.

ASEAN's free trade agreement with China has been working wonderfully. Southeast Asian countries have benefited a great deal from it as trade has jumped 20 percent a year.

"We hope there will be more investment from China into the landscape of Southeast Asia," Pitsuwan said.

Sunday also saw the adoption of a Human Rights Declaration by ASEAN members. A new paragraph was added to the second section of the document that deals with the operating mechanism of the declaration.

"The new paragraph will be focusing on ensuring implementation of the declaration in accordance with international and ASEAN commitments held by the members," said Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia Dr. Kao Kim Hourn.

The ASEAN Summit precedes an ASEAN-plus-three Summit and the 19- nation East Asia Summit which brings together the leaders of ASEAN, the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Phnom Penh on Sunday afternoon to attend a series of meetings for East Asian leaders and pay an official visit to Cambodia.

On the way to Phnom Penh, Wen told reporters it's the only right choice and common wish for East Asian nations to make a concerted effort to overcome the current difficulties as the recovery of the world economy slows and East Asia is faced with increasing pressure.

Wen said China's growth is expected to go on with better quality for a quite long period, continuing to be an important engine for regional and world growth.

Noting the achievements in cooperation and challenges for East Asia, Wen said he will stress unity, cooperation and development as he attends the meetings.

The Chinese premier said he will put forward a series of new proposals during the meeting and try to enhance mutual trust and seek more common ground with all of the other sides to advance cooperation in East Asia in a stable, healthy and sustained way.

The meetings will include the 15th summit between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as the 15th summit between ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea and the seventh East Asia Summit.

Hailing the traditional friendship between China and Cambodia, Wen said he hopes his visit will further strengthen the friendship, deepen reciprocal cooperation, and boost the communication and coordination between the two sides in regional affairs so as to boost the partnership between the two countries and better benefit their peoples. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reaffirmed here on Sunday their willingness to forge closer ties within the bloc and between ASEAN and its dialogue partners in their collective drive towards regional integration.

The 21st ASEAN Summit and related summits, being held in this Cambodian capital from Nov. 18 to 20, saw regional economic integration taking center stage at a time of rapid globalization and a faltering world economy.

Under the ASEAN Economic Community pillar, "we've expressed satisfaction at which 74-75 percent of major instruments of cooperation among ASEAN members in order to establish the community have been ratified by member states," ASEAN Secretary- General Surin Pitsuwan said Sunday when summarizing ASEAN leaders discussion at the summit.

Going by its "roadmap," ASEAN is seeking to establish an EU- inspired economic community by 2015 with a 2 trillion U.S. dollars combined market and become a magnet for integration across the whole of East Asia, the world's most dynamic region.

Discussions on connectivity have focused on boosting physical infrastructure links, coordinating market rules and regulations and stepping up people-to-people contracts.

This concept of an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) was first broached in 1997 at the height of the Asian financial crisis. AEC was planned to be built on four planks -- a single market and production base, a competitive community, an area of equitable economic development and a region fully integrated into the global economy.

Creating a common market that supports business and drives growth for all 10 ASEAN member-countries remains the biggest challenge, pundits said.

Development gap, poor infrastructure, lack of human resources and capacity and good governance and low participation from the private sector constitute major hindrances towards achieving ASEAN economic integration, according to Dr. Cheang Vannarith, executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace.

"We need to invest more in both hard and soft infrastructure and the support of the private sector, especially from the small and medium enterprises, in order to speed up the regional integration process," Vannarith said, adding that best practices in entrepreneurship and innovation should be further promoted.

To keep the region plugged into the global economy, ASEAN needs to pursue its economic integration through liberalizing the services sector across the region and removing non-tariff barriers, analysts said.

In terms of enhancing physical connectivity, ASEAN tabled in 2010 a Connectivity master-plan to enhance physical and people-to- people links.

It has been estimated that ASEAN will need to spend 60 billion U.S. dollars a year on infrastructure investment for the 2010-20 period.

"ASEAN has a lot of connectivity initiatives, but a number of them are impeded by structural weaknesses, low responsiveness to users, organizational inefficiencies, insufficient funding and heavy dependence on overseas development aid," said Pushpanathan Sundram, the managing director of EAS Strategic Advice, a consultancy.

On the side of the 7th East Asia Summit on Nov. 20, Asia will see the emergence of yet another regional arrangement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a more comprehensive trade plan designed to rev up economic linkages and spur growth among 10 ASEAN nations and six dialogue partners, namely, China, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.

Envisioned to enhance market access with due consideration to its members' degree of economic development, RCEP's objective is to attain a comprehensive and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement that involves deeper engagement than the existing ASEAN FTAs with China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia-New Zealand.

Through the initiative, "ASEAN's five existing free trade agreements with six countries in the region would be brought under one umbrella agreement," Pitsuwan said last Saturday.

RCEP is also expected to help further entrench ASEAN centrality, which is challenged by the economic cooperation arrangements rapidly evolving in the region, analysts said.

"Realizing the ASEAN Community by 2015 should remain as our top priority," Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in his opening address at the 21th ASEAN Summit here.

Timely implementation of programs and plans of actions for building the ASEAN Community through the accomplishment of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community Roadmap and a timely implementation of the master-plan on ASEAN Connectivity are urgent matters that need clear and sincere guidance, Hun Sen added.

Holding the chairmanship during an important juncture in ASEAN' s evolution, Cambodia is saddled with the difficult task but at the same time the opportunity to steer the discussions through these thorny issues.

Despite all the challenges, ASEAN economic integration efforts will not be derailed easily. However, the regional grouping needs to focus on core elements of integration and implement them earnestly in the shortest possible time, analysts here said. (Xinhua)

COLOMBO, Nov. 18 -- The Sri Lankan police on Sunday said that five Russians had been arrested over a major credit card scam.

Police spokesman Priyashantha Jayakody said that officers from the police Criminal Investigations Division (CID) arrested the Russians in Colombo with 250 forged credit cards.

Investigation found the Russians had carried out the scam with accomplices in Cambodia and Vietnam.

The police spokesman said that the Russians had over 25,000 U.S. dollars in their possession withdrawn from ATM machines in Sri Lanka.

They also had various equipment including laptops in their possession which were used in the credit card scam.

Just last month the police warned the public to be aware of credit card fraud after an Indian national was arrested with blank cards and equipment to forge credit cards.

The Indian national arrested at the airport had arrived from Chennai and had in his possession 110 blank magnet cards.

The suspect also owned a decoder which can be used to copy data from a credit card.

In March this year two Ukrainians were arrested in Sri Lanka with at least 106 forged credit cards as well as a large sum of stolen money. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- ASEAN members adopted a Human Rights Declaration here on Sunday that is aimed at reducing illegal arrests and torture, but it is beset by criticisms from activists that charge it is too flawed to be effective.

The document was signed by ASEAN leaders on the first day of the summit after a last minute addition of a fresh paragraph due to critics.

The new paragraph was added to the second section of the document that deals with its operating mechanism.

Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia Dr. Kao Kim Hourn told a press conference on Saturday that following discussions members had decided to add a paragraph to the Declaration.

"The new paragraph will be focusing on ensuring implementation of the declaration in accordance with international and ASEAN commitments held by the members," Hourn noted.

The document had earlier run into criticism from activists that insisted it was too flawed to be passed but Cambodian Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong told media earlier that it was a " starting point" for the region to address human rights concerns. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- Achieving the ASEAN economic community by 2015 requires greater commitment from members, the Cambodian prime minister said here on Sunday, urging for more engagement on key mechanisms.

Addressing the opening ceremony for the 21st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, chair of ASEAN in 2012, was stringent in his call for members to work harder, insisting "daunting tasks" remain ahead. " Realizing the ASEAN Community by 2015 should remain our top priority," he stressed. He encouraged all ASEAN ministers concerned to formulate necessary policy measures to be implemented before 2015 in key areas, including tariff barriers, investment liberalization, connectivity and transportation, as well as mutual recognition arrangements on professional services and labor mobility.

He insisted that institutional building and regulatory reforms were needed to guard against protectionism. In addition, pushing for a speedy adoption of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which will be launched during this summit, was also highlighted by the prime minister.

Hun Sen also urged ASEAN members to push for ASEAN to promote the effective functioning of existing mechanisms to ensure regional security and peace.

Treaties to declare ASEAN a nuclear-weapon-free zone, counter terrorism and promote regional cooperation have been in the pipeline for years, but are yet to be effectively implemented, Hun Sen said.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Sunday launched the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR), aiming at reviewing ASEAN cooperation and contributing to peace and reconciliation in the region.

The launching was made during the opening ceremony of the 21st ASEAN Summit at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

"The official launch of the AIPR will further promote peace, security, reconciliation in the region," Prime Minister Hun Sen, chair of ASEAN in 2012, said at the opening of the Summit.

He added that maintaining regional peace and security is indispensable for ASEAN's prosperity and inclusive growth in the entire ASEAN region.

Kao Kim Hourn, secretary of state at Cambodia's foreign ministry, said in July after the 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM) that the funding for the institute will be contributed by ASEAN member states.

The AIPR was initiated by Indonesia. It was built in accordance with the agreement in the ASEAN Charter and following guidelines of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC).

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (Xinhua)

YANGON, Nov. 18-- Newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama is due to begin a historic visit to Myanmar on Monday, a member nation of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN).

Obama will fly over from Thailand to Yangon for hours-long working visit before proceeding to the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Obama's trip to Myanmar will be the first ever one to the country in the history by a sitting U.S. president as bilateral relations have been warming up following eased U.S. sanctions in response to the undergoing reforms in the Southeast Asian nation.

Obama's visit also comes more than one-and-half year after the new government of Myanmar took office in March, 2011.

The highest ranking U.S. leader, who visited Myanmar in the history of Myanmar-U.S. relations, was then Vice President Richard Nixon in 1953.

Obama is scheduled to meet his Myanmar counterpart U Thein Sein and opposition leader and parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, the former capital, to encourage the country's democratic reform.

Obama's tight schedule includes a public speech to Myanmar people arranged at the venue of Yangon University, once world- famous University of Rangoon historically.

U Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi's successive historic visits to the United States in September-October have opened a new chapter to bilateral ties since re-establishment of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level on July 11 with Derek Mitchell, U. S. special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar being assigned as the first U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar.

Washington imposed sanctions on the Southeast Asian nation in May 1997 and expanded them over the years, under which U.S. investment and all imports from Myanmar were banned, assets of certain financial institutions in Myanmar frozen, and visa restrictions imposed on officials of the Myanmar government.

Relations between Myanmar and the United States improved after elected President U Thein Sein initiated a series of reforms since taking office in March 2011, including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, signing cease-fire agreements with several ethnic armed groups, and holding parliamentary by-elections on April 1, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won a majority of the open parliamentary seats with Suu Kyi herself gaining a seat of House of Representatives.

The reforms prompted the first visit to Myanmar of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December 2011. More visits were successively made by other U.S. officials, like Derek Mitchell, Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator John MaCain in January 2012.

In May, U.S. Treasury relaxed some sanctions on Myanmar to allow financial transactions to support certain humanitarian and development projects in the country and in July when the first U.S. Ambassador Derek Mitchell took office in Yangon in 22 years, the Obama Administration announced further easing of the sanctions, allowing U.S. companies to do business and invest responsibly in Myanmar in the sectors including oil and gas.

In July also, organized by the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, a delegation of over 70 senior executives from 38 leading U.S. companies, made the first ever historic business mission to Myanmar, vowing to work closely with the Myanmar government for long-term U.S.-Myanmar business relationship.

In August, eight more American companies of the American Chamber of Commerce based in Singapore followed suit to seek investment opportunities in Myanmar.

In September-0ctober, opposition leader and parliamentarian Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Thein Sein made historic visits to the United States successively, bringing the improved Myanmar-U. S. relations to a new high and winning further easing of U.S. import ban on Myanmar goods.

During her visit in Washington DC, Suu Kyi was received by President Barack Obama at the White House who expressed welcome of Myanmar's democratic transition and the recent progress made by President U Thein Sein and Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party (NLD).

She met with Clinton and made an address at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, voicing her support of further easing U.S. economic sanctions on Myanmar.

While in the United States, U Thein Sein attended the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York on Sept. 27, where he delivered his first ever speech as a president of Myanmar representing a UN member nation.

In October, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns visited Myanmar. The two countries vowed to boost partnership in advancing Myanmar's political and economic reforms.

Myanmar and the United States also held the first bilateral dialogue on human rights on the occasion of Burns' visit.

In late October, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Treasury Neal S. Wolin paid a two-day visit to Myanmar which the U.S. government said is a further demonstration of U.S. commitment to partner with Myanmar as it walks down the path of reform.

Wolin voiced U.S. assistance to develop Myanmar's financial sector and improve public financial management.

According to Myanmar official statistics, U.S. investment in Myanmar amounted to 243.49 million U.S. dollars in 15 projects, accounting for merely 0.6 percent of the total as of August 2012 since Myanmar opened to such investment in late 1988 and standing the 9th in position in Myanmar's foreign investment line-up.

The figures also show that bilateral trade between Myanmar and the United States reached 293.64 million U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2011-12, of which Myanmar's export to the United States amounted to 29.57 million dollars while its import from U.S. stood at 264.07 million dollars.

In the latest development, days before Obama sets foot on Myanmar, the United States further eased import limits on Myanmar goods to support the ongoing reform efforts in the nation and offer new opportunities for businesses in both countries. (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Nov. 18-- U.S. President Barack Obama's trip to Southeast Asia signals a step further in the U.S. strategic shift toward Asia and highlights Asia's growing importance to the United States.

During the trip, Obama's first foreign tour after his reelection, the U.S. president will travel to Thailand and Myanmar and also meet with regional leaders at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia.

The diplomatic mission bears the symbolic weight attached to Asia by Obama, who, citing his birthplace of Hawaii and his childhood in Indonesia, has styled himself "America's first Pacific president."

No sitting U.S. president has ever visited Myanmar and Cambodia, or has picked countries solely in Southeast Asia for a foreign tour since the Vietnam War.

Obama's particular interest in Asia is tied to the growing strategic importance of the region. As the most dynamic economic area in the world, Asia accounts for about one third of global economic output and its contribution to global growth exceeds 30 percent.

During the global financial crisis and the ensuing economic recession,the worst in over half a century, Asia also played a pivotal part in placing the world economy back on track.

Obama's Southeast Asia tour indicates a continuity of his strategic "pivot to Asia."

However, the policy shift, which features not only closer diplomatic and economic interaction but also stronger military presence in the region, has raised suspicion and contention among Asian countries.

Moreover, seemingly emboldened by the United States' policy, some countries have taken provocative moves on such sensitive issues as territorial disputes, to the detriment of the region's stability and development.

Being a global power with a vital economic stake in Asia, the United States plays an important role in the region. However, to mitigate the continent's tensions and sustain its development calls for a more constructive role by Washington.

In order to build a more stable and prosperous future, Asia should steer clear of the old path of conflict and confrontation, and embark on a new road of mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

This is an aspiration shared by the Asian people, and the United States should factor it into its policy-making. (Xinhua)

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 -- The 21st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit opened in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Sunday with ASEAN Community building high on the agenda.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, presided over the summit under the theme "One Community, One Destiny".

In his opening address, Hun Sen said the summit took place at a time when ASEAN has made great achievement in cooperation over the past 45 years, particularly the recent accomplishment in ASEAN Community building.

To take stock of implementation during the past years and to find appropriate solutions to further accelerate the pace of ASEAN Community building, strengthen ASEAN's external relations and enhance ASEAN centrality and international status, ASEAN members should "adopt a more comprehensive and cooperative approach, particularly through ASEAN cooperation," he said.

According to Hun Sen, realizing ASEAN Community by 2015 should remain top priority of ASEAN.

"We should continue to exert our efforts in finalizing a complete legal framework in line with the ASEAN Charter in order to improve the operational efficiency of ASEAN institutions and processes," he noted.

The prime minister said that maintaining regional peace and security is indispensable for ASEAN's prosperity and inclusive growth in the entire ASEAN region.

The 10-member regional bloc should "continue to work together to maintain ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture and further strengthen cooperation with its partners at all levels, especially through the ASEAN plus One and ASEAN plus Three frameworks based on concrete strategies and action plans on economic cooperation including trade."

Hun Sen highlighted enhancing and expanding cooperation among ASEAN ministers in addressing regional and global challenges, such as financial and economic crisis, climate change, the depletion of natural resources, and pandemics.

ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation, which was put forward at last year's ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia, was officially launched at the opening ceremony.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEAN summit precedes an ASEAN-plus-three summit and the East Asia Summit which brings together the leaders of ASEAN and its dialogue partners -- the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, India, Australia and New Zealand. (Xinhua)