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| ASEAN Updates: 15 December 2009 |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Thursday, 04 February 2010 00:00 |
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ASEAN Updates Jakarta, 15 December 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press Release The ASEAN Charter – One Year Old Today ASEAN Secretariat, 15 December 2009 The ASEAN Charter is one year old today. It officially entered into force on 15 December 2008 at a special gathering of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers held at the ASEAN Secretariat with the President of Indonesia, H.E. Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, addressing the event. Meant to transform ASEAN from a loose association of states to a more integrated and rules-based organisation, the ASEAN Charter has, in its provisions, many ground-breaking institutional arrangements and inspirational goals. “We are now in high gear putting into place all the elements of the ASEAN Charter,” said the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, on the first anniversary of the entering into force of the Charter. One new institution established under the Charter is the Jakarta-based Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to ASEAN. Consisting of full-time permanent representatives from the ASEAN Member States, the CPR will coordinate on a broad range of issues and with all relevant stakeholders. The first year of the implementation of the Charter also saw the ASEAN Summit, as the supreme policy-making body in ASEAN, being held twice. There has also been a flurry of non-ASEAN Member States and inter-governmental organisations appointing and accrediting their Ambassadors to ASEAN. To-date, 27 non-ASEAN Ambassadors have been accredited to ASEAN. Another feather in ASEAN’s cap was the launch of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) by the ASEAN Leaders at the 15th ASEAN Summit in Thailand in October 2009. Its work will begin with education and the promotion of human rights and gradually taking up the more challenging task of protection. As mandated by the ASEAN Charter, the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of ASEAN has also been adopted. This agreement will for the first time provide ASEAN with a legal personality and the necessary privileges and immunities for all those performing official ASEAN work in the region. In tune with the purposes of ASEAN, which includes the creation of a single market and production base, there has been considerable progress in the building of the ASEAN Economic Community. The ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is near completion, with tariffs for the six older ASEAN Member States almost zero by January 2010. One of the aspirations of the Charter is for ASEAN to become a more people-oriented organisation. With the Charter recognising the important roles which parliamentarians, the business community, civil society organisations, youth and students play in the life of the ASEAN Community, dialogue and engagement between the region’s political leaders and these stakeholders have been institutionalised. Much has been achieved in the past year, though much more is to be done in 2010, said Dr Surin. “Viet Nam will take over the ASEAN Chairmanship from Thailand on 1 January 2010 and a high-level ASEAN Secretariat delegation will soon be heading to Ha Noi to discuss with senior Vietnamese officials on priorities under their chairmanship,” said Dr Surin. To mark this first anniversary, the ASEAN Secretariat Policy Forum – “The ASEAN Charter: One Year On”, will be held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on 16 December from 10 am to 12.30 pm. The forum will involve a panel consisting of Tun Musa bin Hitam, Chairman of the Eminent Persons Group on the Charter, and Ambassador Rosario G. Manalo and Ambassador Tommy Koh, Chairpersons of the High Level Task Force on the Drafting of the Charter. The panelists will draw upon their own thoughts on the intent and dreams of the framers of the Charter, the thinking of the ASEAN Leaders on the importance of the Charter to ASEAN Community-building, and their own experiences during the drafting of the terms of reference and the making of the Charter. ***** Press Release Royal Beauty of Golden Myanmar ASEAN Secretariat, 14 December 2009 The Gedung Kesenian arts centre in Jakarta came alive on Monday, 14 December 2009 with the sounds and strains of the rich culture of Myanmar. A cultural troupe from the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture of Myanmar performed “The Royal Beauty of Golden Myanmar”, which showcased 13 traditional and contemporary dances and musical performances of Myanmar. From the Dance of Zwagyi, a Myanmar folk character who is adept in the art of alchemy, to the Bagan Dance of the 11th-13th Century AD, the audience was treated to an evening of Myanmar music and dance. The performances from Myanmar are the fourth in the Best of ASEAN Performing Arts series. Indonesia had showcased the best of their cultural performances in May 2008, Thailand in August 2008, and Singapore in April 2009. The series showcases the richness and diversity of performing arts in the region. The purpose of the series is to promote ASEAN awareness through the region's rich and diverse cultures as well as to acknowledge the important role that Jakarta has played as the host city of the ASEAN Secretariat. The Best of ASEAN Performing Arts series was proposed by the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan. Dr Surin said, “Culture can bind the 584 million people of ASEAN together as we build the ASEAN Community. Through culture, we learn, understand, appreciate and experience each other’s way of life. The performing arts and arts in general will help to create a sense of belonging, consolidating our unity in diversity”. The 4th Best of ASEAN Performing Arts is jointly organised by the Ministry of Culture of Myanmar and the ASEAN Secretariat, and supported by the Myanmar Embassy in Indonesia. ***** Press Release First ASEAN DSG for Community and Corporate Affairs Takes Oath of Office ASEAN Secretariat, 14 December 2009 The first Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs (DSG CCA) took his oath of office today at the ASEAN Secretariat. H.E. Bagas Hapsoro had earlier assumed office on 7 December 2009. DSG Bagas will assist the Secretary-General of ASEAN in managing the CCA Department of the ASEAN Secretariat and in ensuring that the Secretariat has the systems, procedures and resources required to fulfil its roles and mandates in building the ASEAN Community and in the implementation of the ASEAN Charter. The CCA Department performs a range of core corporate support functions, such as human resource and financial management, administration and information technology. It also provides a range of other supporting analytical services to operational areas, including the media and communications, outreach and legal functions. DSG Bagas was selected by a panel comprising the Secretary-General of ASEAN and representatives of all ASEAN Member States in September 2009. His appointment was approved by the 5th ASEAN Coordinating Council in October 2009. Before his appointment as DSG CCA, DSG Bagas was the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Lebanon. He was also the Director for ASEAN Dialogue Partner & Inter-Regional Cooperation at the Department of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia. In accordance with the ASEAN Charter, there are now four DSGs. Two DSGs are nominated by ASEAN Member States based on alphabetical rotation for a non-renewable term of three years and two DSGs are openly recruited based on merit for a three-year term which may be renewed for a further three years. For DSG Bagas’s biography, please click here. ***** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This Month’s Meetings, please click here |
| Last Updated on Thursday, 04 February 2010 22:46 |