Published on: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 |
Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi outlined a seven-point road map with important milestones for charting the course and measuring the progress of the East Asia community.
He proposed the East Asia Summit, Charter of the East Asia Community, East Asia Free Trade Area, Agreement of East Asia Monetary and Financial Cooperation, East Asia Zone of Amity and Cooperation, East Asia Transportation and Communication Network, and East Asia Declaration of Human Rights and Obligations.
Abdullah said that firstly the East Asia Summit, to be held in Putrajaya in December next year, should carry and drive the process of building the East Asia community.
The East Asia Summit would send a powerful signal of the existence of trust and confidence among the countries in the region, he said in his keynote address when opening the second East Asia Forum, here, Monday.
Secondly, he said, the charter of the East Asia community should be short in terms of words but profound in terms of concept and substance.
Abdullah said it should set out the promises, principles and objectives to guide the process of community building and the vision of East Asia as a community of peace, friendship, prosperity, development and progress.
Thirdly, he said, the East Asia Free Trade Area would be a challenging task for East Asian countries which have a combined gross domestic product of about US$6.8 trillion (about RM24 trillion) and a population of more than two billion.
"The trade and investment opportunities are vast and the sooner we arrive at the milestone the better," he said.
In this connection, he said Asean has already formalised the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) and has entered into a free trade agreement with China and would begin negotiations for a free trade area with South Korea soon.
With Japan, he said, a longer route is being taken with the framework for a comprehensive economic partnership although the ultimate aim is also to achieve a free trade agreement between the two sides.
Fourthly, on the East Asia Zone of Amity and Cooperation, Abdullah said the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation would be important for the realisation of a zone of amity and cooperation specially tailored for East Asia as a whole.
He said such a zone would guarantee respect for the rule of law, sovereignty, territorial integrity, good neighbourliness, and equality among nations.
It should further renounce the use of threat or force, and enhance transparency in security matters, promote confidence-building among nations including the avoidance of an arms race and, ideally, exclude weapons of mass destruction from the zone, he said.
Fifthly, on the East Asia Transportation and Communication Network, Abdullah said it should include facilities not only for the physical movement of people and merchandise but also electronic connection between peoples and countries.
On the Agreement of the East Asia Monetary and Financial Cooperation, he said East Asia has already gone a long way in this area, and the reasons were obvious and sound and the logic, compelling.
Finally, on the East Asia Declaration of Human Rights and Obligations, Abdullah said, the East Asian community would undoubtedly be required to deliberate and establish its own standard on issues.
In this connection, the highest priority should be given to the eradication of poverty throughout East Asia, he said.
The Prime Minister said the total eradication of absolute poverty and the institution of good governance should therefore be a sacred mission of every government in East Asia as both are also key to ensuring stability in the country and avoiding one of the root causes of radical dissent.
He said the suggestions could be some of the milestones or markers the East Asian countries could put in place in their quest for the East Asian community.
However, as they proceed along the route, they are bound to encounter obstacles and other "road blocks", he said.
Abdullah said issues such as the Korean peninsula, the overlapping territorial claims especially in the South China Sea, regional terrorism and pockets of internal strife were some of them.
"These problems must be addressed urgently before they become unmanageable," he said.
Abdullah said an integrated East Asian community must not be viewed entirely as an end in itself.
It must also be viewed as a means or as contributing to the establishment of a more stable global environment.
Also present at the function were former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata and former Korean President Kim Dae-jung.
At a media conference later, Abdullah said the East Asia community would not be established to compete with other blocs.
It would not also sideline Asean as Asean would remain as Asean.
"Asean would not be less meaningful with the presence of the East Asia community," he said.
Although no deadline has been set for the establishment of the East Asia community, he said, efforts must be focused towards achieving the target as some were already being discussed.
Asked where the East Asia Community secretariat would be, Abdullah said, probably in an Asean country as it was an Asean-driven initiative.
Asked whether he anticipated any objection from the United States towards the establishment of the East Asia community this time, he said: "I don't expect anybody to say anything."
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said the one-day East Asia forum would discuss, explore and propose practical suggestions and ways to construct an integrated East Asia community.-Bernama
