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| ‘‘The aim I had was to make [Asean] a household name and so far I have been successful,’’ says outgoing secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan. |
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| Le Luong Minh: Hanoi’s ambassador to UN |
Umesh Pandey & Thanida Tansubhapol
Bangkok Post
PHNOM PENH : Asean is preparing to choose a new secretary-general who will lead the diverse 10-country group to much-anticipated integration with the formation of the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
Le Luong Minh, the current vice-foreign minister of Vietnam, is widely expected to succeed Thailand's Surin Pitsuwan, whose five-year term will end in November.
Mr Minh has been Vietnam's ambassador to the United Nations since 2004.
Speaking at the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh last week, Dr Surin said he had been satisfied with his performance over the past four and a half years and would continue his vigorous efforts to promote the region until his term ends.
Members of the Association of South East Asean Nations take turns at the secretary-general's position on a five-year non-renewable basis, and it is now the turn of Vietnam.
Mr Minh is expected to be formally proposed in July at ministerial meetings in Cambodia and officially introduced to the leaders in November when they meet again in Cambodia.
Some business leaders in Asean have been arguing for a person outside government to take the position, but Dr Surin believes such talk is premature.
He said it was still up to a member state to submit the name of the person it feels is appropriate to lead Asean.
"There has been talk by some in the business community about having the private sector lead the grouping but I don't think it is the right time to address this issue," he said.
Some private-sector groups say it's time for the business community to take the lead and expedite important changes in Asean, which they say is hampered by bureaucracy when government officials are at the head.
Reflecting on his own achievements, Dr Surin expressed satisfaction with the work he had done to build public awareness about Asean within the region and on the world stage.
"The aim I had was to make it a household name and so far I have been successful," he said adding that more could have been done but the group's current profile is strong.
The fact that Asean is represented and is consulted in all global arenas is a remarkable achievement, he said.
"Today the Asean grouping is represented in every global mainstream meeting, which it rightfully deserves," he said.
3 comments:
Vietnam must abandon its crazy ambition of absorbing Cambodia and leave Cambodia alone.
Stop pushing your Vietnamese people to flow into Cambodia.
Be a nice country. Stop being an evil nation. If Vietnam wants to live, so does Cambodia.
5:45 AM. Your useless talk isnt going to change anything.
If Cambodia was next to US, US will still treat Cambodia like shit. The problem isnt YOUN, its you.
Do something and stop barking and stop voting for CPP.
No more stinky leadership of evil Communist Vietnam on worldwide planet when it comes to their dirty Vietnamese deeds and games. Why is the world including ASEAN so blind about the evil Communist Vietnamese thinking-like-rotten leaders?
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