ASEAN gears up to challenge Asia’s giants - Klipping Jakarta Post

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 10/25/2010 9:26 AM | Headlines
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The leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries will convene this week to discuss a new master plan for enhancing ties and building new infrastructure that would allow the group to compete with rising economic giants China and India.
The 10 leaders will convene from Thursday to Saturday in Hanoi, Vietnam, to discuss the so-called Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, which would anchor the region’s long-term strategy to improve infrastructure and institutional and people-to-people relations, the ASEAN Secretariat said in Jakarta on Saturday.
“Enhancing intra-regional connectivity within ASEAN and its subregional grouping would benefit all ASEAN member states through enhanced trade, investment, tourism and development,” the draft of the master plan read.
“The deepening and widening of connectivity in the region would reinforce ASEAN’s position as the hub of the East Asia region and preserve its centrality.”
Experts have praised the plan as a necessary step to improve economic integration that would allow the region to compete with China, which has become a huge magnet for investors.
“ASEAN integration is becoming even more urgent as we prepare for the rise of China and India, as well as the possible normalization of Japan’s military role. As rivalry heightens, these major powers will use economic and military means to achieve their national goals,” Rizal Sukma, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Jakarta, said.
By enhancing connectivity, investors would see the nation grouping of 560 million people as one united market rather than as separate countries, the expert said.
The master plan proposes strategies to boost road, rail, shipping, air and other networks between ASEAN members to reduce economic disparities in Southeast Asia and help ASEAN achieve its goal of becoming an economic community by 2015.
Indonesian Foreign Ministry secretary-general for ASEAN Djauhari Oratmangun said Indonesia was the coordinator for achieving maritime inter-connectivity in the region. ASEAN plans to build 42 new seaports in the region.
“We propose that the focus will be the eastern part of ASEAN, meaning also the eastern part of Indonesia. According to the plan, 16 ports will be built in the eastern part of Indonesia. This way, we can connect Indonesia’s isolated islands with ASEAN,” Djauhari said.
He said the master plan called for efforts to improve the region’s connectivity in three areas — physical connectivity such as transport and ICT infrastructure, institutional connectivity such as trade and investment liberalization, and people-to-people connectivity such as tourism and education.
The leaders will also likely discuss criticism of the group’s stance on Myanmar’s decision to bar foreign observers and journalists form entering the country during its elections, scheduled to take place on Nov. 8.
ASEAN will host the United States and Russia in the East Asian Summit, along with the six existing partners — China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Analysts say the US is likely to lobby ASEAN to question Myanmar’s approach to its elections, which have been criticized as non-transparent and unfair, given that democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party has chosen to boycott the election.