ASEAN Secretariat
During the year 1990-1991, the ASEAN
Secretariat has carried out activities in fulfillment
of its functions and duties stipulated in the
Agreement Establishing the ASEAN Secretariat.
The main thrusts of the activities were towards
the strengthening of the intra-ASEAN cooperation
as well as the promotion of ASEAN's
relations with third countries and other regional
and international organizations. Focus has also
been centred on the working and structure of
the ASEAN Secretariat itself as part and parcel
of any attempt to strengthen the intra-ASEAN
cooperation. In this connection, the Panel of Five
Eminent Persons set up pursuant to the decision
of the 23rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting has
carried out a study on strengthening the structure
and mechanism of ASEAN, with special
reference to the ASEAN Secretariat. Judged by
the activities undertaken during the period under
review, the ASEAN Secretariat would continue
to play a major role in the overall evolution of
ASEAN cooperation.
Attendance at ASEAN Meetings
z
2 The Secretary-General, the Deputy
Secretary-General, and officers of the ASEAN
Secretariat attended Ministerial meetings,
annual dialogue meetings, meetings of the
ASEAN Standing Committee, senior officials in
various fields, ASEAN economic committees
and ASEAN functional committees as well as
some of their subsidiary bodies. In the said
endeavours, the ASEAN Secretariat provided
background and concept papers as well as
assisting in the formulation of the record of the
outcome of the meetings. The officers of the
ASEAN Secretariat also attended conferences
and seminars held under the framework of
ASEAN relationship with the dialogue partners.
Their role as the resource persons has been an
accepted pattern of ASEAN meetings. Further
more, they assisted in the meetings hosted by
member countries whenever appropriate to do
SO.
3 The convening of the Joint Consultative
Meeting (JCM) consisting of senior political
officials, senior economic officials, and directors-
general of the ASEAN national secretariats has
been a well-established feature of ASEAN
mechanism. The JCM was convened on several
occasions to coordinate positions of ASEAN
member countries prior to the meetings of APEC
senior officials. The Secretary-General of the
ASEAN Secretariat was given the task of chairing
the JCMS.
4 It was a greed that the JCM would take the
leading role in the preparation for the forth-
coming Fourth ASEAN Summit in Singapore in
early 1992 with full support work from the
ASEAN Secretariat.
Attendance at meetings under the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC)
5 The Secretary-General of the ASEAN
Secretariat attended the Ministerial-Level Meeting
on APEC in Singapore on 29-31 July 1990.
The officials of the ASEAN Secretariat also
participated in the various work projects of
APEC, the progress of which would be reported
to the APEC Ministerial-Level Meeting scheduled
for October 1991 in Seoul.
6 The ASEAN Secretariat acted as Joint
Rapporteur of the APEC Senior Officials
Meetings held in Republic of Korea in October
1990 and March 1991 respectively.
Relations with the Third Countries and
International/Regional Organizations at the
Secretariat Level
7 The Secretary-General of the ASEAN
Secretariat was entrusted to explore possibility
of establishing new relations between ASEAN
and third countries and international/regional
organizations as well as to consolidate the
existing relations at the secretariat level.
8 In the above context, the Secretary-General
visited the General Secretariat of the Union of
the Arab Maghreb (UMA) in Tunis, Tunisia at the
invitation of the UMA Secretary-General to look
into possible areas of cooperation at the end of
June 1990.
9 The Secretary-General also made a visit to
Suva, Fiji in November 1990 to explore the
possibility of strengthening the already existing
relations between ASEAN and the Forum Secretariat
at the secretariat level. Cooperation in the
areas of trade, investment, and human resources
development has received great attention.
10 In response to various approaches and
indications of third countries and international/
regional organizations for some kind of relation-
ship with ASEAN, the ASEAN Secretariat acted
as the processing centre in bringing up the
matters for consideration -and decision of the
higher authorities in ASEAN.
11 The ASEAN Secretariat has anticipated
that in line with the direction set out by the Third
ASEAN Summit of 1987, ASEAN relations with
third countries and international/regional organizations
would be very much expanded in the
near future due to the process of increasing
economic interdependence and political realignment.
Venue of ASEAN Meetings
12 The ASEAN Secretariat hosted, among
others, the following ASEAN meetings during
the year :-
a) The Japan-ASEAN Cooperation Promotion
Programme (JACPP) Meeting, 5
July 1990.
b) The Japan-ASEAN Exchange Programme
(JAEP) Management Committee
Meeting, 9 July 1990.
c) The ASEAN Joint Consultative Meeting
(JCM), 26 July 1990.
d) The First ASEAN-ROK Joint Sectoral
Cooperation Committee (JSCC) Meeting, 11-14 August 1990.
e) Meeting of the ASEAN-ROK Joint
Management Committee (JMC), 11
January 1991.
f) The Extraordinary Budget Committee
Meeting, 28-29 January 1991.
g) The 15th Meeting of the ASEAN Audit
Committee, 25-28 February 1991.
h) The 11th Meeting of the Advisory Group
on ASEAN Cultural Fund, 24-25 April
1991.
i) The ASEAN Preparatory Meeting for the
2nd Meeting of the ASEAN-ROK JSCC,
30 April-1 May 1991.
13 The ASEAN Secretariat building was also
the venue of the National Day Receptions of the
Philippines in June 12, 1990 and June 12, 1991
respectively.
14 The ASEAN Secretariat facilitated the
convening of the Fourteenth Budget Committee
Meeting in Yogyakarta, on 20-24 May 1991.
15 Various meetings with the UNDP were
conducted at the ASEAN Secretariat, notably,
the meeting of ASEAN-UNDP Technical Co-
operation Review on 21 June 1990 and 15
February 1991. The ASEAN-UNDP seminar
workshop on Project Assessment and Evaluation
was successfully organized at the ASEAN
Secretariat.
16 As the executive agency of the project of
ASEAN Macro-economic Outlook, the ASEAN
Secretariat has been exerting utmost efforts
in bringing about an early and successful
implementation of the project. In this regard, the
ASEAN Secretariat organized a coordinating
meeting on the ASEAN Macroeconomic Outlook
on 19 January 1991.
17 The ASEAN Secretariat, entrusted by the
UNDP with the approval of ASEAN to be the
executive agency for the UNDP's assisted study
on ASEAN Economic Cooperation in the 1990's,
held a meeting on the subject on 5 May 1991.
18 Although not assigned as the executing
agency for the UNDP's assisted study of the
Panel of Five Eminent Persons, the ASEAN
Secretariat played a major role in coordinating
the efforts of all concerned so as to facilitate
the preparation of the Report of the Panel on
Strengthening the Structure and Mechanism of
ASEAN, with Special Reference to the ASEAN
Secretariat.
19 The ASEAN Secretariat manages and
administers the following funds :-
a) ASEAN Cultural Fund Operational
Account.
b) ASEAN Science Fund.
c) Japan Scholarship Fund for ASEAN
Youth.
d) ASEAN Regional Studies Promotion
Programme (ARSPP).
e) Japan - ASEAN Cooperation Promotion
Programme (JACPP).
f) Canadian Technical Assistance (Library
Fund).
g) ASEAN-Japan Special Cooperation
Fund.
ASEAN Day Celebrations
20 The ASEAN Day on 8 August 1990 represented
the 23rd Anniversary of the establishment
of ASEAN. Various activities were conducted
under the auspices of the ASEAN Secretariat to
highlight the significance of the ASEAN Day.
The diplomatic missions of ASEAN member
countries in Jakarta and the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Indonesia gave full support to the
holding of sports events in celebration of the
ASEAN Day. The hallmark of those events was
the enthusiastic participation of officials and
members of their families, thus strengthening
the already strong ties of friendship and the deep
sense of solidarity.
21 On 8 August 1990, a flag-raising ceremony
was performed at the premises of the ASEAN
Secretariat with the attendance of ASEAN
Ambassadors, diplomats, members of their
family, and the staff members of the ASEAN
Secretariat. The Secretary-General hosted
the reception in the same evening attended by
high ranking officials of the Government of
the Republic of Indonesia, members of the
diplomatic corps, and the prominent figures
from the business sector and cultural circle of
Jakarta.
Information Services
22 Dissemination of information on the
activities of ASEAN to the general public was
normally conducted through the various publications
of the ASEAN Secretariat and prompt
replies to queries about ASEAN activities. The
members of the staff at the ASEAN Secretariat
held talks, discussions and briefing to visitors
including journalists, researchers, officials
from ASEAN member governments and third
countries, and groups of university students.
The Public Information Section also supplied
relevant information about ASEAN to inquirers
from within and outside ASEAN, who were
interested in ASEAN activities. During the period
under review, there was a marked increase in the
number of inquiries about ASEAN activities
and ASEAN's future direction. The ASEAN
Secretariat also held briefing for visiting
politicians, parliamentarians, members of
national defence colleges, groups of civil
servants from various countries who wished to
learn more about the machinery and substance
of ASEAN cooperation.
23 Over 600 university students from various
universities and higher institutions in Indonesia
visited the ASEAN Secretariat on several
occasions during the year under review. They
were briefed on the background and various
aspects of ASEAN cooperation with special
emphasis on present activities and prospects for
the future. Films about ASEAN were from time to
time shown to give audio-visual reflection of
ASEAN Cooperation. Publications on ASEAN
were also distributed during the said visits.
Briefing and discussions also took place among
the ASEAN Secretariat staff and scholars or
academics conducting research on ASEAN. A
new development was an increasing interest in
ASEAN's role and position in the concept of
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as
well as measures to strengthen intra-ASEAN
cooperation.
24 A number of publications were produced
during the period under review, namely :-
a. The Annual Report of the ASEAN
Standing Committee, 1989 - 1990
b. Statements of the 23rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial
Conferences with the Dialogue Partners,
Jakarta, 1990
c. ASEAN Newsletter - twelve monthly
d. Press Releases (occasional)
e. Monthly Calendar of ASEAN Meetings
f. Monthly Selected Press Clippings on
ASEAN News and Views - 12 issues
(only for selective distribution)
g. ASEAN Documents Series, 1989-1991
h. Investing in ASEAN