Mr. Chairman,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

           
First of all, on behalf of the Philippine Delegation, I wish to express my deepest appreciation to the Government and the people of Thailand for their gracious hospitality and their splendid arrangements for this Meeting. My gratitude likewise extends to the wealth of insight shared this morning by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai who spoke, of the future directions of ASEAN solidarity and cooperation.

            Congratulations are due our Chairman and my good friend, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, for ably steering the ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) over the past year amidst the of intricate routes of regional collaboration. And I am sure that his undertaking has beenmade easier with the competentguidance and support provided by the ASEAN Secretariat under the leadership of Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino, Jr.

            I am also pleased to extend my greetings to our guests this morning: Foreign Minister Sir John R. Kaputin of Papua New Guinea and the representatives of the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor, the Southern African Development Community, the United Nations Development Program and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

            I would also like to join others in welcoming DPRK intothe ARF.

The Future Begins Now

            Once again, we gather together at this memorable birthplace of ASEAN thirty-three years ago to ponder and chart the new directions of ASEAN cooperation. In the last three decades, our Partnership has endured and has been made successful by the depth of our, neighborly spirit and the strength of our collective vision, We have instilled in our efforts the goal of carrying this partnership well into the future – and that future begins now.

            It is a future that is shaped largely by globalization. This pervasive phenomenon has meant a boundless landscape for the interdependence of nations, as well as a Theater for contagion during financial and economic crises, and at times, even political instability within states.

            Not with standing its benefits and pitfalls, we will all need to fully understand globalization. More importantly, we will need to take full advantage of it. We will have to embrace the future and strive to make it better and real for the peoples of our region.


Achieving Comprehensive Development

            To do this, regional development must be comprehensive. It has been submitted that there are three pillars to a comprehensive development agenda in ASEAN. The first is the need to reach out to the people. This entails ensuring that they benefit from our undertakings. ASEAN’s cooperative thrusts should result in more concrete opportunities for human resource development, poverty eradication. food security, development of social safety nets, raising women’s welfare, and water management and conservation.

            This includes non-traditional pursuits, like people empowerment and the promotion of human rights. In thiscontext, the Philippines would like to compliment the efforts of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanismin achieving its goals. Wecertainly would like; to encourage member countries to study the various proposals that it has advanced.

            Similarly, ASEAN should begin to actively contemplate promoting the principles of good governance, such as transparency, accountabilityand predictability in our institutions and policies, and learning from best practices that we can all share and benefit from.

            Also central to this pillar of outreach to the people is the need to address transboundary concerns, such as transnational organized crime. We will need to vigilantly tackle these crimes to ensure that our peoples enjoy the security that they deserve.

            Events in recent months have hi highlighted how wide the room for collaboration in this area remains, especially in regional capacity-building. For a start, it is essential that member countries endeavor to realize the establishment of the ASEAN Center for Combating Transnational Crime (ACTC) within the year, if ASEAN is to gain an edge over the deleterious effects of these crimes. The protection of the environment is another transnational concern that we should address in order to uplift the quality of life in the region.

            Another pillar in the development agenda is the enhancement of economic integration. The momentum in this area has carried ASEAN far: advancing target dates for tariff reduction, hastening full implementation of the ASEAN Investment Area, and jumpstarting the liberalization of trade in. services.

            We are becoming more integrated economically than ever. Intra-regional trade has grown at an annual average rate of 13.2 percent from 1993 to 1998. Intra-regional investment has been maintained at 15.7 percent of total foreign direct investment flows into ASEAN since the middle of the last decade.

            But we would have to look beyond the numbers. We would have to increase and maintain the region’s competitiveness, while at the same time contributing to the increased pace of social recovery,

            Maximizing the potential of regional growth areas like the BIMP-EAGA and the Mekong River Sub-Region. Taking, full advantage of the opportunities presented by the successful investment promotion missions to Japan. Europe and North America and following-up on them. Exploring competition policy. Strengthening regional financial coordination. These are the various areas which member countries must bolster together to remain competitive.

            It will be critical, in this globalized world. that ASEAN continues to ride the wave of theinformation age. We should be engaging more in electronic commerce, and work to lay down the groundwork for seamless transactions in cyberspace by having tile appropriate infra-structure in place and by addressing the technology capacity gap between member Countries. The age of information also requires a focus on security, better infrastructure, and adequate legal and regulatory frameworks. This is a path that the Philippines has taken with the enactment of the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000 as part of our contribution to the larger structure of e-ASEAN.

            In this regard, the Philippines commends the hard work and competence of the e-ASEAN Task Force headed by Mr. Roberto R. Romulo for the tremendous progress it has made in developing the e-Agreement, with equal contributionby the ASEAN Economic Ministers. We look forward to having this Agreement signed during the 4th ASEAN Informal Summit in Singapore this year, which will pave the way for more liberalized tradeand investments in information technology goods and services in the region.

            ASEAN acting as a concert of nations is the third pillar of development. Let us deepen our sense of regionalism through more people-to-people exchanges and cultural promotion. Let us concretize our efforts to package this region as a single tourist destination. Let us look at developing common positions in various international fora more frequently.

Accordingly, a stronger concept of community would enable ASEAN to exercise an effective extra-regional role, particularly in East Asia.

Fixing the Asymmetry

            Nonetheless, I believe that for the development agenda of ASEAN to be truly comprehensive and meaningful, another equally crucial pillar is required  that ASEAN become a community of peace.

After three decades of existence, ASEAN continues to evolve its processes for dialogue and consultation, and broader political cooperation. And more inspiring possibilities lie ahead.

            Part of this evolution is the need to concretize the principles and values that keep ASEAN member countries together. We have to build and strengthen institutional processes and mechanisms, and provide the impetus for true and lasting peace. It will emanate from finalizing the draft Rules of Procedure of the High Council under the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), or through the full operationalization of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) and the Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN). It will result from endowing substance to the ASEAN Troika and putting into practice a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea.

            These initiatives correct the asymmetry in the pace and scope of political and security cooperation on one hand, and economic integration on the other. Investing these efforts with greater urgency hastens the culture of peace in ASEAN and opens new vistas for other, ingenious enterprises in the same direction.

            In the end, peace with each other endures as our overarching goal. Let us work within the ASEAN context to resolve bilateral problems. Let us safeguard against the rising ride of religious intolerance and racial divisiveness. Our collective vigilance in these directions will be the bastion against the destabilization of the ASEAN region.

Concluding Remarks.

Mr. Chairman,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

            At this point in our history, the future can be morethan just a dream. Our various efforts, symbolized by these pillars, deserve our full and equal advocacy, as well as focused attention. We have begun to cross the threshold to a new beginning. A threshold that we can open wider and wider to ensure a meaning and worthwhile future for ASEAN. And more significantly, for its peoples.

Thank you.