EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Even as it fosters regional solidarity and economic integration, ASEAN has always been open to the rest of the world and engaged with other countries and regions politically, economically and culturally. ASEAN has always looked to other countries, regions and organisations as partners in global progress and regional stability, as well as in the development of ASEAN and its member countries.

However, at the beginning, ASEAN was preoccupied with building the new association, with fostering mutual confidence and with keeping the region from being an arena of Cold War conflict. In their founding declaration of 8 August 1967, the members made no mention of institutional relationships with other countries; they pledged mainly “to maintain close and beneficial cooperation with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes.”

Nine years later, at the First ASEAN Summit in Bali in 1976, the association expressed “ASEAN’s readiness to develop fruitful relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries of the region.” Within a year this mandate was expanded to mean the development of dialogue relations with the major economic partners of ASEAN member countries, including the nations of Europe and America.

ASEAN’s initially cautious outlook on external relationships was understandable, given the circumstances of its birth. The founding members had a history of disputes with one another, and their principal concern was learning to overcome their differences and trust to the workings of group dialogue and cooperation. Beyond their countries they saw a region and a world community fatefully divided by ideology and the Cold War.

The end of the Viet Nam War set the stage for ASEAN’s decision, at the 1976 Bali summit, to develop its relations with other countries. At one end, ASEAN established dialogue relationships with major economic partners. At another, the association started to explore and develop relations with the five other countries of Southeast Asia-Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and, as it regained its independence, Brunei Darussalam.

As ASEAN approached the 21st century, it had brought all ten countries of Southeast Asia into the association. Many countries and organisations were seeking dialogue relations with it, and ASEAN had earned international recognition as a force for peace, stability and moderation. ASEAN diplomacy had taken its place alongside intra-regional cooperation in shaping the future of the association and of the region.

Vision 2020 and Action Plan

The Second ASEAN Informal Summit, held in Kuala Lumpur on 15 December 1997, adopted the ASEAN Vision 2020, which laid out its ideal of the regional association in the 21st century: “a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward-looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies.”

At their Summit in Ha Noi in 1998, the ASEAN leaders approved the Ha Noi Plan of Action as the first in a series of action plans to realise Vision 2020. In ASEAN’s external relations, the Ha Noi Plan of Action aims to enhance ASEAN’s role as an effective force for peace, justice and moderation in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world. Its more specific objectives are:

• Maintain ASEAN’s chairmanship of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF);
• Devise initiatives to advance, on a consensual basis and at a pace comfortable to all, the ARF process from its current emphasis on building confidence to promoting preventive diplomacy;
• Enhance consultation and coordination of ASEAN positions at the United Nations and other international forums;
• Revitalise ASEAN’s relations with its dialogue partners on the basis of equality, nondiscrimination and mutual benefit; and
• Build cooperative ties with states in the Asia-Pacific region.

Amid the changing political and economic environment in East Asia, the interest of its dialogue partners in political engagement with Southeast Asia through ASEAN remains high. Other countries, as well as regional and international organisations, have continued to seek such engagement.

Dialogue Relations

Economic cooperation was ASEAN’s main interest when it established dialogue relations with the major economic partners of its member countries. These relations have promoted trade and investment; facilitated the transfer of technology and know-how; and improved access of ASEAN products to the markets of its dialogue partners. Eventually, however, the relationship became a way for ASEAN to engage the dialogue partners in a discussion of regional and global issues, including security matters.

ASEAN had its first formally established dialogue relations with Australia in 1974, followed by New Zealand in 1975. ASEAN-Japan relations began in 1973 and were institutionalised in 1977. ASEAN’s dialogue relationship with Canada started in 1977 and was formalised in 1981. ASEAN established dialogue relations with the United States and the United Nations Development Programme in 1977. Formal relations with the European Union were formed in 1980 with the signing of the ASEAN-EC Cooperation Agreement. The ASEAN-Republic of Korea (ROK) Sectoral Dialogue relations were formalised on 2 November 1989 and the ROK was elevated to the status of a Dialogue Partner in July 1991. India, which had been a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN since 1993, was elevated to a Dialogue Partner in 1995. China and Russia, which began consultative relations with ASEAN in 1991, were accorded Dialogue status in 1996. Pakistan established Sectoral Dialogue relations with ASEAN in 1997.

ASEAN’s dialogue relations have been shaped by a combination of domestic, regional and global factors. In the early years the primary focus of its diplomacy was to seek development assistance to propel the economic development of member countries. With the rapid economic growth of ASEAN in the eighties and nineties, the nature of dialogue relations changed to that of a partnership between equals. Development cooperation with dialogue partners has taken a diminished role relative to the more strategic elements of the relationships. The focus has shifted towards market access, trade, investment, tourism, services, science and technology, human resource development and technology transfer. Political and security issues have found a growing place in the dialogue forums.

During the second summit in Kuala Lumpur in 1977, the ASEAN heads of government for the first time met as a group with counterparts from outside the region, holding consultations with the Prime Ministers of Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

Since then the foreign ministers of dialogue countries have held annual sessions with ASEAN foreign ministers at the postministerial conferences that follow every ASEAN ministerial meeting. The postministerial conferences-as well as other regular forums between ASEAN and each of its dialogue partners-have become a model for mutually beneficial North-South consultations and cooperation.

To help in the consultation between ASEAN and its dialogue partners, committees were set up in the capitals of the dialogue partners to pursue ASEAN interests in those countries. The heads of the diplomatic missions of ASEAN member countries make up these committees.

Two major offshoots of the dialogue system are the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN+3 process.

The ASEAN Regional Forum

ASEAN envisioned the ASEAN Regional Forum as a multilateral consultative forum aimed at building confidence among countries with security interests in East Asia at a time when the Cold War had just ended and a new configuration of international relations was emerging in East Asia. Although it was originally not intended to be an institutionalised mechanism, ARF has evolved into a major forum on political and security issues for top diplomatic and security officials and an invaluable contributor to the maintenance of harmony and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

ARF participants now include all the ten ASEAN countries, the association’s ten dialogue partners-Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States-and Papua New Guinea, which enjoys observer status in ASEAN, Mongolia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which took part for the first time this year.

Since its inaugural meeting in Bangkok in July 1994, ARF has taken an evolutionary approach extended over three broad stages: the promotion of confidence building among participants; the development of preventive diplomacy; and the elaboration of approaches to conflicts. This approach enables ARF participants to deal constructively with political and security issues that bear on regional peace and stability, including new issues that have emerged as a result of globalisation.

The ARF process runs on two tracks: one track for activities to be carried out by the governments, and a second track for nongovernment institutions or persons acting in their personal capacity to contribute to ARF’s purposes. Through the ARF, there has been an extensive exchange of views on the South China Sea issue, the situation in the Korean Peninsula, nuclear testing, and other security issues in the region.

At the thirty-third AMM in Bangkok on 25 July 2000, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers reported a significant development in the ARF process. They noted that while confidence-building measures remained its primary focus, ARF could now dev-elop the principles and concepts of preventive diplomacy. They stressed the contribution and importance of continued participation by defence and military officials in the ARF process.

ASEAN+3 Process

The ASEAN+3 Process refers to the summits between the ASEAN leaders and their counterparts from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The process started in Kuala Lumpur in Dec-ember 1997. The participating leaders found the process useful and decided to convene the summits annually. The East and Southeast Asian leaders met again at the Sixth ASEAN Summit in Ha Noi in Dec-ember 1998, and in Manila in November 1999.

The long-term and strategic agenda for co-operation in the ASEAN+3 process was laid down in the Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation, which the 13 leaders adopted at the 1999 Manila summit. The joint statement outlined the main areas for cooperation: economic and social issues; monetary and financial matters; social and human resources development; scientific and technical development; culture and information; development cooperation; and political and transnational issues.

The ASEAN+3 process has been moving fastest on financial cooperation, with the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and their deputies working on a network of currency swap and repurchase agreements, a system for making financial re-sources available to participants in balance-of-payments difficulties. They also jointly review closely developments in the region’s economy.

The ASEAN+3 Economic Ministers have agreed to give priority to cooperation on trade, investments and technology transfer, information technology, and small and medium enterprises and supporting industries.

The ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers have decided to consult periodically on political and security developments and promote cooperation on the social and cultural areas.

Noting how their collective efforts and co-operation agenda support and complement the initiatives of multilateral agencies, the East Asian leaders have agreed to intensify coordination in international and regional forums, such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organ-isation, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Asia-Europe Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum, as well as in regional and international financial institutions.

Contributing to the initiative is the East Asia Vision Group of eminent persons from ASEAN and the Northeast Asian countries set up in October 1999 to obtain the views of the broader constituency of East Asia on how to strengthen cooperation in the region. The group will present its report to the ASEAN+3 Summit in 2001.

Relations with Other Organisations

At the Fourth ASEAN Summit of 1992, the ASEAN leaders agreed that, as part of an increasingly interdependent world, ASEAN should intensify cooperative relationships with interested non- dialogue countries and international organisations. In line with this directive, ASEAN maintains cooperative links with other intergovernmental organisations-the Economic Cooperation Organi-sation, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Rio Group, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and the South Pacific Forum.

Most ASEAN members also take part in the activities of the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera-tion (APEC) forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the East Asia-Latin America Forum (EALAF). At their meeting in October 2000, the economic ministers of ASEAN and of Australia and New Zealand agreed to deepen the already flourishing ties between ASEAN and the (Australia-New Zealand) Closer Economic Relations. Senior officials are to work out the modalities, taking into account the recommendations of a high-level task force to look into the feasibility of a free-trade area between the two blocs.

In its relations with the United Nations, ASEAN continues to build working relations with several of its agencies. The first ASEAN-UN Summit was held in Bangkok on 12 February 2000. ASEAN leaders and the UN secretary-general agreed that ASEAN complemented the activities of the United Nations. The secretary-general emphasised that there was room to expand and deepen the relationship between the two organisations and that the two organisations had yet to establish a structured way to collaborate in promoting regional peace and stability. The United Nations recognised the important support extended by ASEAN in restoring peace in East Timor.

Update on Dialogue Relations

The East Asian financial crisis has led to closer cooperation between Northeast Asia and ASEAN in their common desire to avert the recurrence of crisis and to establish together an economically vigorous and prosperous East Asia. Elsewhere in its external relations, ASEAN has also taken major strides in strengthening cooperative relationships.

ASEAN-Australia. The ASEAN-Australia relationship has evolved and matured considerably since Australia became ASEAN’s very first dialogue partner more than two decades ago. Besides geographic proximity, the strength of the partnership between Australia and ASEAN comes from the complementary characters of their economies and their determination continually to upgrade the relationship.

To broaden the scope of cooperation, ASEAN and Australia have agreed to discuss political and security issues in the ASEAN-Australia Forum, while maintaining its current structure and format. Discussions at previous meetings had been confined to economic matters and development cooperation.

The ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Programme (AAECP) has provided an avenue for ASEAN-Australia cooperation projects since the establishment of its relations. In 1999, while the third phase of the AAECP has yet to end, Australia initiated the development of a future phase of the ASEAN-Australia Economic Cooperation Pro-gramme. Australia has approved the notional budget of A$45 million for this phase, which will include the new members of ASEAN-Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. ASEAN and Australia have agreed to call the new phase ASEAN-Australia Development Cooperation Programme (AADCP) to reflect its broader scope.

ASEAN-Canada. The Eleventh ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC), held in Montreal in May 1997, agreed that a working group should be formed to review ASEAN-Canada development cooperation and to take stock of the past twenty years. The ASEAN-Canada Working Group on the Revitalisation of the ASEAN-Canada Dialogue Relations, which met in February 1999, agreed that the JCC adopt a thematic approach and discuss current developments in the economic integration of the region and areas of cooperation under the Ha Noi Plan of Action.

Over the years Canada has extended development cooperation to ASEAN on forestry, human resource development, fisheries, energy, agriculture, transportation and communications. ASEAN and Canada are discussing flexible approaches to advance cooperation on a broad range of areas.

ASEAN-China. The ASEAN-China Senior Officials’ Consultations remain an important forum for discussing political and security issues of common concern and interest. An ASEAN-China working group set up by the ASEAN-China Senior Officials Consultations has met four times in 2000 to discuss the draft Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, considered to be an important contribution to confidence building between ASEAN and China.

ASEAN-China consultations on the Protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty are also continuing as part of ASEAN’s effort to urge the five Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) to accede to the Protocol to the SEANWFZ. ASEAN hopes to engage the NWS in face-to-face consultations among experts and officials in March 2001 in Da Nang, Viet Nam.

With the economic recovery of the region, trade between ASEAN and China is gradually rebounding. To help increase trade and investment flows between ASEAN and China, the Second ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Seminar was held on 5-7 September 2000 in Manila. The recommendations of the seminar will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Joint Commit-tee on Economic and Trade Cooperation.

ASEAN-European Union. After a lapse of more than three years, the ASEAN-EC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) Meeting was held on 24-27 May 1999. Political dialogue was also revived with the convening of the ASEAN-EU Senior Officials’ Meeting in Lisbon on 26 June 2000. ASEAN and the EU are looking forward to the Thirteenth ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting in Vientiane later in December 2000 to resume political and economic dialogues and strengthen development cooperation on the basis of the ASEAN-EU Work Programme adopted at the JCC in Bangkok. The programme calls for concrete cooperation activities in trade facilitation, standards and conformance, intellectual property rights, customs, trade in services, investment, environment, energy, human development, science and technology, and business cooperation.

The broadening of the scope of ASEAN-EU relations reflects the maturing of the partnership and the importance of the dialogue for both sides. Re-cognising the significant roles of ASEAN and the EU in ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in their regions, both sides have agreed to share perspectives and information on political and security issues. ASEAN and the EU have called for an intensified dialogue to facilitate trade and promote investment and business and industrial cooperation, and to reduce obstacles impeding these economic activities.

ASEAN-India. Since the dialogue relationship began in 1993, development cooperation between ASEAN and India has expanded considerably. ASEAN-India cooperation on science and technology, information technology and human resource development was strengthened with the establishment of the ASEAN-India Working Group in February 1998. The ASEAN-India Joint Coopera-tion Committee agreed that the scope of discussion of the working group should be expanded to cover issues such as tariffs, nontariff barriers, trade policies, investment regulations and cooperation among small and medium enterprises.

The ASEAN-India Working Group on Science and Technology explores cooperation in advanced materials, such as rare earth magnets and surface engineering, animal and plant bio-technology and space technology. Cooperation on electronics and information technology will be coordinated by a subgroup. ASEAN and India are also considering the setting up of a working group to explore possible areas of cooperation on transport and infrastructure.

ASEAN-Japan. Over a one-year period ending in October 2000, ASEAN and Japan convened a series of three meetings, entitled “Towards Vision 2020: ASEAN-Japan Consultation Conference on the Realisation of the Ha Noi Plan of Action,” to promote a deeper understanding of developments in the region and of one another, generate new dynamics and seek new modalities for ASEAN-Japan relations, and prepare for ASEAN-Japan cooperation in the 21st century. The consultation meetings made 45 concrete recommendations, whose implementation is expected to facilitate the realisation of the HPA and Vision 2020, including Japan’s contribution to this process.

Following the Asian currency crisis, Japan dispatched a Mission for the Revitalisation of the Asian Economy, whose objectives were to study the needs of Asian countries as they began to show signs of recovery. It came up with concrete recommendations concerning the role that Japan should play in terms of people, goods, money and information in the twenty-first century in the light of the experiences of the currency crisis.

At the ASEAN+3 Informal Summit Meeting in Manila in November 1999, Japan presented the Obuchi Plan, which encompassed a broad range of development cooperation activities in human resource development, information technology, cooperation on the Ha Noi Plan of Action, and capacity building for the newer ASEAN members and the ASEAN Secretariat. The components of the Obuchi Plan are in varying stages of implementation.

On the occasion of the ASEAN-Japan Post-ministerial Conference in July 2000, the Japan-ASEAN General Exchange Fund (JAGEF) was es-tablished to facilitate Japanese economic cooperation with ASEAN, encourage the transfer of technology and inflow of investment from Japan to the ASEAN countries, and promote trade and the exchange of personnel between Japan and ASEAN.

Besides to the JAGEF, the ASEAN Secretariat holds in trust the Japan-ASEAN Exchange Pro-gramme funds and the Japan Scholarship Fund for ASEAN Youth. While these are the main funds through which Japan provides assistance to ASEAN, Japan informed the Fourth ASEAN-Japan Consultative Group Meeting, which was held on 26-27 October 2000 in Tokyo, that ASEAN could also access the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduc-tion, which supports poverty reduction activities in the developing member countries of the Asian Development Bank.

ASEAN-Republic of Korea. ASEAN and South Korea convened the first meeting of the Joint Planning and Review Committee (JPRC) in April 1999 to improve the use of the ASEAN-ROK Special Cooperation Fund (SCF). A revised Project Proposal Approval Procedure and other measures were adopted to ensure timely project implementation and effective use of the SCF. At the same time, the ASEAN-ROK Eminent Persons Group submitted its report on the future direction of ASEAN-ROK cooperation.

At the second meeting of the JPRC, in May 2000, ASEAN and South Korea agreed on the importance of matching development cooperation with ASEAN’s priorities, including facilitating the integration of newer ASEAN members into ASEAN’s economic cooperation schemes. In this context, South Korea indicated that it would consider positively projects that would facilitate ASEAN’s economic integration.

The two sides have agreed that the ASEAN-ROK dialogue would include an exchange of views on political and security issues in the region.

ASEAN-New Zealand. Since the establishment of the ASEAN-New Zealand dialogue, a number of cooperation programmes and activities have been undertaken, especially within the framework of New Zealand Overseas Development Assistance to promote social, scientific and technological cooperation with ASEAN.

The Seventh Meeting of the ASEAN-New Zealand Economic Cooperation Programme convened in February 2000. At this meeting, ASEAN and New Zealand agreed that a new direction should be developed, focusing on ASEAN’s econo-mic recovery and integration, the social impact of the financial crisis, science and technology and the environment, and human resource development. Specific areas of focus could include small and medium enterprise, tourism, women, youth and health.

ASEAN-Russia. The first ASEAN Russia Joint Cooperation Committee Meeting (ARJCC) was held in June 1997 in Moscow, and the second in June 2000. The first ARJCC established the Work-ing Group on Science and Technology (WGST), and identified six areas for cooperation: investment and economic cooperation, science and technology, environmental protection, tourism, human resource development, and people-to-people interaction. At the second ARJCC, Russia indicated its interest in helping ASEAN carry out the Ha Noi Plan of Action. The two sides agreed to initiate practical and small-scale activities such as an exchange of officials between the ASEAN and Russian governments. Pursuant to this, a workshop on ASEAN-Russia relations was held in Moscow on 25-27 October 2000 to promote better understanding of ASEAN and Russia among senior officials.

The first ASEAN-Russia Business Forum was held in Kuala Lumpur on 13 April 2000. The forum aims to increase trade and investments through contacts between the ASEAN and Russian private sectors.

ASEAN-United States. The Fifteenth ASEAN-US Dialogue, held on 24-25 May 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, exchanged views on economic, social, environmental, and regional and international security issues. The US expressed support for the Ha Noi Plan of Action as an important regional strategy and reaffirmed the im-portant role of the private sector in advancing ASEAN-US relations.

Besides the formal dialogue forums (postministerial conference and the ASEAN-US Di-alogue), the US-ASEAN Business Council has become the principal conduit for ASEAN-US relations. The Council had productive consultations with the ASEAN economic ministers in October 1999 and Oct-ober 2000. It played a key role in organising the ASEAN joint investment promotion mission to the United States in May 2000.

The Council has initiated a programme for developing human resources through the US-ASEAN Centre for Technology Cooperation, based in Manila. The programme will support training needs identified by the ASEAN public and private sectors.

In consultation with the ASEAN Secretariat, the US is pursuing an initiative to establish a Centre/ Network for the Assessment and Promotion of Environmentally Sound Technologies in the region, which could be the first collaborative activity between ASEAN and the US under the Ha Noi Plan of Action.

ASEAN-UNDP. ASEAN and the UNDP are implementing the Sixth Cycle of the ASEAN-UNDP Subprogramme (ASP-6) to help ASEAN’s econo-mies recover, deal with the social impact of the financial crisis, and strengthen the institutional capacity of the ASEAN Secretariat.

ASEAN and the UNDP are working towards the next cycle of the ASP. An ASEAN-UNDP brainstorming session was held in September 2000 in Ha Noi to take stock of their collaboration and exchange views on future cooperation. From the discussion a concept paper is to be drawn up for the next phase of cooperation in line with ASEAN’s priorities and consistent with UNDP’s Regional Cooperation Framework, which is being developed. ASEAN and UNDP agreed on convening the ASEAN-UNDP Joint Manage-ment Committee and the ASEAN-UNDP Dialogue Meeting in the first quarter of 2001 to review the implementation of the ASP 6 and plan for future cooperation. ASEAN and UNDP will also be discussing how the two sides could, together, contribute to the realisation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration in the light of the consistencies between the Declaration and the ASEAN Vision 2020 and HPA.

ASEAN-Pakistan. In an effort to identify ways of increasing trade between Pakistan and ASEAN member countries, the ASEAN-Pakistan Joint Business Council met for the first time in Karachi on 21-22 February 2000. A workshop suggested several measures to enhance trade and investment between ASEAN and Pakistan. The two sides in-formed each other on the trade policies of Pakistan and ASEAN member countries and dev-elopments in ASEAN economic integration. They agreed to develop more collaborative ventures to exploit the strengths of each other’s economies. They recommended that information on trade, customs procedures and taxation structures be exchanged to facilitate trade.

Conclusion

ASEAN’s dialogue system has been the leading expression of the association’s openness and links to the rest of the world. The participation in it of the world’s leading economic powers has been the principal conduit of development cooperation with ASEAN as a region. This cooperation today focuses on economic recovery, the strengthening of institutions, finance, and the industries of the future, particularly those involving information and communications technology. It continues to cover regional cooperation on the protection of the environment, human resource development, and science and technology.

ASEAN has used the dialogue system to urge that the world’s largest markets be kept open for the products of ASEAN members and to promote investments from them.

The dialogue system was the foundation for the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum, the only regional multilateral mechanism for consultations on regional security, engaging the world’s leading powers and others with strategic interests in the region in promoting peace and stability in East Asia.

A fast-developing subset of the dialogue system is the ASEAN+3 forum among ASEAN and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Advances have been made in financial cooperation among them, and the way has been charted for deeper economic cooperation in East Asia-in trade, investments, technology, transfer, information technology, and small and medium enterprises.

ASEAN has, from the beginning, been at the core of APEC, ASEM and the East Asia-Latin America Forum. It has active ties with the United Nations and its agencies and with other regional associations.

ASEAN’s openness to the world and its cooperative links with the world’s leading powers have served it well throughout its existence. Its external relations are a key element in its development and its strategy for the future.