Published in the New Straits Times on 30 June 2004

KL to hold back-to-back summits
Nuraina Samad and Farrah Naz Abdul Karim in Jakarta

JAKARTA, June 29: MALAYSIA will hold the East Asia Summit “back-to-back” with the Asean Summit which it is hosting next year, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Abdul Hamid Albar said yesterday.

He said Malaysia’s intention to do this had received “quite positive” response from at least the foreign ministers of Indonesia (Dr Hassan Wirajuda), Cambodia (Hor Namhong) and Vietnam (Nguyen Dy Dien) with whom he held bilateral meetings yesterday afternoon.

“But I think, as in the Asean process, before we decide on anything, we must make sure that we discuss all matters pertaining to the holding of the summit.

“When it is done, it is with the total support and commitment of our fellow Asean countries,” he told Malaysian journalists at his suite in Jakarta Hilton.

Syed Hamid said Malaysia was working on holding the East Asia Summit in its preparations to play host to the Asean Summit next year.

He said when the country hosted the Asean Summit in 1997, it was the first time the Asean+1 and Asean+3 were introduced.

“So I think a lot of water has passed under the bridge. We are more open about talking about East Asia.” Syed Hamid, who arrived here yesterday morning to attend the 37th Asean Ministerial Meeting today, said Malaysia felt that “this is the best time” for the grouping to “revisit East Asia as a summit back-to-back with the Asean summit”.

“This is so that the Asean identity is there, the Asean+1 is there.” Syed Hamid said it was also to enable leaders to look at East Asia in Kuala Lumpur.

“Subsequently, we will go back to the Asean+3.” Syed Hamid stressed that although Malaysia was preparing itself towards holding the summit by consulting other Asean countries, details were not final yet.

“I think what is important is that we see that all countries in Asean see the evolutionary process of East Asia as a community. Now they are willing to discuss it, either individually or collectively.” In Kuala Lumpur last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for early action on the launch of the East Asian Community to meet the challenges and opportunities of an expanded European Union and the free trade area of the US.

Abdullah, who was speaking at the second East Asia Congress, had said that it could take at least two generations for Southeast Asian countries to reach the European benchmark. The EU has an expanded membership since May this year ? from 15 to 25.

Indonesia has expressed reservations about the summit, saying that there should be more study of how this could bring long-term dividends to Asean countries.

But Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yeong has expressed a positive stand, saying that the summit would be “politically symbolic” because of the presence of the 10 Asean leaders and their dialogue partners from Japan, China and South Korea.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri will open the meeting at Istana Negara here.

  

Posted on June 30th, 2004 by jl
Filed under: Regionalisation