Opening Remarks the President of RI on the 44th Asean Ministerial Meeting, Bali, 19 July 2011

Selasa, 19 Juli 2011
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OPENING REMARKS

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

ON

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 44^th ASEAN MINISTERIAL MEETING

NUSA DUA, BALI, INDONESIA

19 JULY 2011

 

 

 

Bismillaahirrahmaanirraahim,

 

Assalaamu'alaikum warahmatullaahi wabarakaatuh,

 

Peace be upon us,

 

Salam sejahtera untuk kita semua,

 

Om Swastiastu,

 

Excellencies, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of ASEAN Member States,

 

Excellencies, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste,

 

Excellency, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary General of ASEAN,

 

Excellencies, Ministers, Ambassadors and member of the Parliament,

 

Your Honour, Governor of Bali,

 

Excellencies, Permanent Representatives and Distinguished Respresentatives of International Organization in Indonesia,

 

Distinguished Delegates and Guests,

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I am delighted to welcome all of you to Bali. Indonesia, as the chair of ASEAN this year, is honored to host this important ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting. We are blessed with a beautiful day to begin our good work. I wish you a wonderful and pleasant stay, but we all know that in reality the next five days will be full of hard work in our common efforts, to shape the destiny of our region. 

 

Our meeting here takes place just ten weeks after the 18^th ASEAN summit in Jakarta last May. We did not waste time. Since that Jakarta Summit, there has been plenty of discussions and consultations among ASEAN Ministers and officials, and also with our dialogue partners to prepare for this meeting in Bali.

 

Before that, in the first three months after Indonesia assumed ASEAN chairmanship, ASEAN Foreign Ministers met four times. This is a clear testament of the fact that ASEAN, as intended by the ASEAN Charter, is picking up speed. We are no longer just walking at a leisurely pace. We are beginning to run and running faster and run faster we should, because the region and the world is running faster. We have much work to do, to strengthen ASEAN's momentum.   

 

As we all know, the vision of ASEAN Community was endorsed in 2003 here in Bali, and then in Cebu in 2007, ASEAN agreed to reach the goal of ASEAN Community by 2015. As we expected, the process from conception in 2003 to Community in 2015 was not going to be a linear one. We had to adjust some of our assumptions and calculations. New challenges came up - including some events in the interna- tional environment beyond our control - forcing us to constantly adapt and improvise. Progress in some areas have been challenging. Thus, just as we say that ASEAN Centrality has to be earned, the vision of ASEAN Community too, has to be earned - and built brick by brick. 

 

At the last ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, we confronted these challenges head-on. We discussed some of the areas where progress was slacking, and discussed ways to overcome them. Most of all, we agreed that we are on the right path towards achieving these goals. After much deliberations, we were able to define a vision of ASEAN Community in a global community of nations. 

 

We agreed to step up disaster relief cooperation. To enhance conflict resolution capacity, we established the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation. We agreed to biennial review of the blueprint of ASEAN Political and Security Community. And we agreed on enhanced measures to deal with trafficking of persons in our region.  

 

I have high hopes that ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meetings will be able to give shape and add content to the progress that has been achieved at the last Summit. For this is going to be a challenging year for ASEAN. The emerging economies, including in Southeast Asia, continue to grow and drive global economic recovery. But Europe is still grappling with economic disruptions, and is likely to be in that situation in the near future.

 

In the US, the budget debate over debt ceiling remains, and, if left unresolved in early August, it can negatively affect the global economy. The price of oil remains high and volatile - hovering just below USD $ 100 per barrel - while the Arab spring continues to unsettle the Middle-East. Japan is still struggling with its full recovery, affecting the global supply chain. The six-party talks over the Korean nuclear issue have not been resumed. Meanwhile, the regional architecture in the Asia Pacific continues to evolve. 

 

Against all this backdrop, there is great expectation that ASEAN will be able to consolidate our position and be a driver of peace, development and international cooperation in Southeast Asia and beyond. This is an expectation that I know we are able to meet. There is therefore a lot riding on this present ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting. The ASEAN Leaders have laid a good foundations. Now, you must build-up the bricks. 

 

I understand that in the next five days you will discuss an extensive list of agenda items. There are several major areas where we hope to see steps forward. To begin with, we must push harder in the promotion of peace, cooperation and stability for our region.

 

Yes, we have come a long way - a very long way - from bipolar Southeast Asia to ASEAN 10. But our present regional order remains fraught with challenges. I am delighted that the situation between Cambodia and Thailand has gradually improved. The situation, admittedly, has not been easy. Yet, there is a willingness on both sides to manage the dispute peacefully through dialogue, to prevent it from deteriorating, and to explore confidence building measures.   

 

Our success in resolving internal disputes is critical to our efforts to attain a healthy ASEAN Security Community. That is why, I have high expectations that the series of ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting will pave the way to the launching of an ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.   

 

We also need to see some progress on the South China Sea. ASEAN's first ever Declaration on the South China Sea was issued long ago - in 1992. It took another 10 years before ASEAN and China could agree on the Declaration of Conduct. And yet, nine years later, we still have not finalized the guidelines of the Declaration of the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea. Things do not necessarily have to be this slow. 

 

I ask the Foreign Ministers' meetings to step up its efforts, to complete that last mile on this important confidence-building document. We need to send a strong signal to the world that the future of the South China Sea is a predictable, manageable and optimistic one. And we need to finalize that long overdue guidelines because we need to get moving to the next phase, which is identifying elements of the Code of Conduct.

 

The more we are able to do this, the better we can manage the situation in the South China Sea. I am sure that soon we will be able to commence discussion on a regional code of conduct in the South China Sea. We also should push for greater traction on a nuclear weapons-free Southeast Asia. There is a positive sign that nuclear disarmament is gaining ground - some nuclear powers are entering into ratification process of African and South Pacific Nuclear Weapons Free Zones.

 

I am pleased to note, thanks to the work of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Commission, there is a fresh momentum to get the nuclear powers - including China, the United States and Russia - to accede to the ASEAN Nuclear Weapons Free Zone of 1995, at the earliest possible time.   

 

It is also important for ASEAN to step up efforts in addressing people smuggling. With the turbulent events in the Middle-East and South Asia, there is possibility that we will see greater traffic of people smugglers into our region. This is going to continue to be a regional problem, and we need to ensure active coordinated efforts to address this festering issue. 

 

Another area where we will need steps forward is regional architecture. We look forward to the constructive participation of the US and Russia in the East Asia Summit this year in Bali. ASEAN must ensure its role as the driver, for an East Asia-wide regionalism that is conducive for development. Accordingly, we are building a regional architecture that is based on dynamic equilibrium. ASEAN needs to maximize its central role to ensure meaningful cooperation in the wider region. ASEAN should be a net contributor to peace and stability in the regional architecture.  

 

Along with dialogue partners, ASEAN must improve its capacity to rapidly and effectively response to the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster.  Through such cooperation, we could increase better coordination among our military personnel in joint activities other than war.  

 

Under the ASEAN Regional Forum framework, we should increase the frequency of disaster relief exercises, such as ARF DiRex. There needs to be similar efforts carried within the framework of the East Asian Summit. Still within the context of refining the regional architecture, Indonesia hopes the Foreign Ministers meeting can lend support to Timor Leste's application to become a member of ASEAN. I believe one of the greatest tasks of ASEAN lies in people to people. We are all agreed that a 21st century ASEAN, to be dynamic and relevant, must be people-centered and people-driven. 

 

For the first time, and in contrast to just four decades ago, we are facing a reality where the frequency and depth of contacts between our citizens - through cable television, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook - far exceed the formal contacts between Government officials. Indonesia, being the world's second largest Facebook nation and third largest for Twitter, know this very well. 

 

There is no Government in the world that has all the answers to this new trend. ASEAN too must get into the act: we must be creative and open-minded in harnessing the power of technology to promote people-to-people contact. The establishment of an ASEAN blogger community is one innovative idea and more should follow. 

 

But, I do believe that by far the greater demand for diplomatic creativity will lie in the realms of people-to-people contacts. The question will not only be how do we advance and proliferate and multiple contacts between our citizens, but also how do we manage them in ways that reduce complications and add benefits and opportunities.

 

This is because when millions of people engaged across borders - as we have seen in bilateral context - there is bound to be issues and problems. We must make ASEAN matter to our people. We must ensure that ASEAN improve the quality of our lives. And equally important, we must strive to include our people in everything that ASEAN stands for and achieve.  

 

We also need to develop an ASEAN Connectivity that is capable of connecting the entire Asia-Pacific region, an ASEAN Connectivity that is locally integrated and globally connected.  With that in mind, let us move forward with confidence and courage. With an inclusive mind-set and with a firm commitment to achieving common progress for all. I am confident that you will make substantial progress in efforts to address the common security, common stability and common prosperity for our region.  

 

Finally, by saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I declare the Forty-Fourth ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting open. 

 

I thank you,

 

Wassalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

 

Om Santhi, Santhi, Santhi Om. 

 

 

 

Asisten Deputi Naskah dan Penerjemahan,

Deputi Bidang Dukungan Kebijakan,

Kementerian Sekretariat Negara RI