FUNCTIONAL COOPERATION
34. Cooperation in science and technology, environment, culture and information, social development, and drugs and narcotics control continued to intensify during the year in review with the implementation of the various action plans, a number of which had been further developed into clearly defined medium term programmes. It received a further boost when the Fifth ASEAN Summit agreed to elevate functional cooperation to a higher plane to bring shared prosperity to all members of ASEAN. The direction of functional cooperation was set towards the development of human resources and technological competitiveness, strengthening of ASEAN identity and raising of ASEAN awareness, and promotion of sustainable development and improvement of the quality of life. The framework for elevating functional cooperation to a higher plane shall consist of the elements listed in Table 1.
Science and Technology
35 The Fifth ASEAN Summit called for the development of human resources in science and technology to cope with the pace of scientific and technological advancement and the strengthening of regional cooperation, with active participation from the private sector, to achieve technological competitiveness.
36. The goals set by the Summit were embodied in the Medium Term Programme for ASEAN Science and Technology Development (1996 2000) which was adopted by the Ministers for Science and Technology in 1995. The Programme contained the objectives, conceptual framework, strategies and actions, programme areas, and funding mechanisms for ASEAN cooperation in science and technology up to the end of the decade. One of its main thrusts was to build an infrastructure for cooperation which would be self sustaining and involve the active participation of the private sector. Accordingly, it incorporated guidelines for cost-sharing schemes and proposals for establishing linkages with industry groups and professional organizations
37. During the past year, a total of 49 projects came under the purview of the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST). Eight of these, were completed during the period under review. Among them, were three workshops supported by the ASEAN-India fund. Fifteen are currently on-going while 26 are in different stages of development. These projects covered a wide range of areas including food science and technology, meteorology and geophysics, microelectronics and information technology, materials science and technology, biotechnology, nonconventional energy, marine sciences and S&T infrastructure and resources development. Funding came mostly from the Dialogue Partners, for instance, energy from biomass (Australia), energy cogeneration (EU), and marine science (Canada). Additionally, COST and the ASEAN Secretariat continued to develop science and technology indicators as an aid for policy formulation with funding from the UNDP.
38. A major activity was the Fourth ASEAN Science and Technology Week held in Bangkok in August September 1995 with the theme "Science and Technology: the Future of ASEAN." The opening session of this triennial event was graciously presided by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand. Eight concurrent scientific sessions were held which attracted over 600 participants and 100 technology exhibitors from ASEAN and the Dialogue Partners. To promote public awareness and encourage even greater efforts to advance science and technology in ASEAN, three awards were given, namely: ASEAN Young Scientist and Technologist Award, ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and Technologist Award, and ASEAN Science and Technology Meritorious Service Award.
Environment
39. The importance of environmental issues was emphasized by the ASEAN Leaders at their Fifth Summit when they called for the advancement of the economic prosperity and social well being in a sustainable manner for the benefit of future generations and in the interest of ensuring a balanced ecosystem. A review of regional activities in this area showed that ASEAN had already started working in this direction.
40. Recognizing that certain environmental problems extend beyond national boundaries, the ASEAN Ministers for the Environment adopted the ASEAN Cooperation Plan on Transboundary Pollution in Kuala Lumpur in 1995 to address issues related to transboundary atmospheric pollution, transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and transboundary shipborne pollution. The Ministers reviewed the progress of the implementation of the Plan when they met informally in Singapore in September 1995. Subsequently, a Haze Technical Task Force was formed by the ASEAN Senior Officials on the Environment (ASOEN) to ensure the timely and effective implementation of the priority measures recommended in the Plan.
41. During the year under review, ASOEN implemented five projects with 18 projects in the pipeline covering the areas of nature conservation, marine environment, transboundary pollution, environmental management, environmental economics, and environmental information, public awareness and education.
42. ASEAN Environment Year 1995, with the theme "Green and Clean", was successfully concluded thus bringing greater awareness on the importance of environmental protection to the general public. Over eighty promotional activities and sixty four national workshops, seminars and ecology camps for the youth were held in different ASEAN countries. Promotional items ranged from commemorative stamps and souvenir coins to advertisements on billboards.
43. ASEAN continued to address the issue of the linkages between trade and environment. With funding from the UNDP, ASOEN and the ASEAN Secretariat conducted a series of workshops in four ASEAN capitals in 1995 to help develop ASEAN's capacity in trade environment policy analysis, planning and evaluation. National level studies on pollution prevention principle, environmentally related product standards, internalization of environmental protection costs in product prices, and environmental performance of foreign investments were also conducted and the results presented in a second series of workshops in four ASEAN capitals. The aim was to prepare a set of guidelines and recommendations for the development of ASEAN policies on the environment trade nexus.
Culture and Information
44. The 1995 Bangkok Summit called for the conservation, preservation and promotion of ASEAN's cultural and artistic heritage and the raising of awareness of ASEAN among its peoples by harnessing all appropriate modes and technologies in the media and communications.
45. These issues underpinned the deliberations at the Fourth Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information held in Singapore in March 1996, just a few months after the Summit. Recognizing that advances in technology could be harnessed to raise ASEAN awareness and strengthen ASEAN identity, the Ministers agreed to explore the possibility of establishing an ASEAN Satellite Channel. They also agreed to further expand and develop the ASEANWEB to provide a broad umbrella homepage with hyperlinks to homepages in Member Countries. Mindful that new technologies can also bring new challenges, the Ministers called for the convening of a forum for regulators to enable ASEAN Member Countries to share experiences in the formulation of appropriate responses to advances in information technology.
46. In the past year, the Committee on Culture and Information (COCI) implemented a total of 50 projects, completing 23, in the fields of literary and ASEAN studies, visual and performing arts, radio/TV and films/video, and print and interpersonal media. Among the noteworthy projects completed were: the ASEAN Theater Festival, the ASEAN Writers' Workshop, the Three-Year Development Plan for Film/Video Archives and the Photo Exhibition on ASEAN-UN Cooperation for a Better World. The projects were aimed to bring ASEAN awareness into the mainstream of the media environment, to promote ASEAN's culture and values and highlight the richness of the cultural traditions of the region, and to project the ASEAN identity to the world.
Social Development
47. The emphasis placed by the Fifth ASEAN Summit on human resources development was given strong support with the establishment of the ASEAN University Network (AUN). The AUN Charter was signed by the Ministers Responsible for Higher Education in November 1995 and eleven ASEAN universities agreed to participate in the collaborative studies and research programmes of the network which would initially focus on ASEAN studies.
48. In line with the Fifth Summit's call for raising the quality of life by ensuring social justice, the ASEAN Labour Ministers, at their meeting in Bangkok in April 1996, reiterated their concern that attempts by some developed countries to link international labour standards with international trade would seriously undermine the economic growth of developing countries. They called on the ILO to review the international labour conventions including the so called fundamental workers' rights conventions.
49. To help upgrade human resources and strengthen the networking of HRD institutions, the Ministers agreed to study the feasibility of establishing an ASEAN Regional Human Resources Development Planning Centre.
50. Regional activities to strengthen the family, protect and develop children and youth, and enhance the participation of women in all levels of society were implemented by the Committee on Social Development (COSD) and its subsidiary bodies during the year under review. A total of eleven projects were completed and seventeen were in varying levels of implementation and development. With funding from UNICEF, a feasibility study was conducted on the establishment of an ASEAN Regional Mechanism for Family and Child Development. A monitoring and reporting system on the implementation of the Declaration on the Advancement of Women in the ASEAN Region was being developed with funding from UNDP and a project on an ASEAN network for women in skills training was being implemented with the assistance of ILO and funding from UNDP and CIDA.
51. To strengthen ASEAN's collective response to the problems and challenges posed by HIV/AIDS, the ASEAN Regional Programme on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control (1995 2000) was adopted by the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS in October 1995. At the same time, consultations were underway with WHO on a proposed regional programme on polio eradication.
Drug Matters
52. Recognizing the dangers of drug trafficking and abuse, the Fifth ASEAN Summit called for the creation of a drug free ASEAN. To achieve this end, the implementation of the Medium Term Programme on ASEAN Drug Abuse Control (1996 1998), which further elaborated the earlier Action Plan on Drug Abuse Control, was high in the agenda of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD). Seven of ten projects in the Medium Term Programme focused on demand reduction and preventive education.
53. The implementation of the ASEAN-EU Three-Year Plan of Action on Preventive Drug Education continued to make good progress with the convening of a meeting of national project coordinators and the holding of a regional seminar to develop guidelines for improving the effectiveness of media campaigns on drug prevention.
54. In view of the decline in funding from Dialogue Partners, ASOD agreed to implement a number of priority projects on a cost sharing basis, namely, training programmes in interpersonal skills and peer counselling, financial investigations, and drug treatment and rehabilitation; promotion of drug control activities in the workplace; and community-based drug prevention. It also agreed to involve other relevant countries, international organizations and non governmental organizations
in its efforts to achieve the goal of a drug free ASEAN.