I am sure that all of you have come into this hall filled with anticipation of new beginnings. We come together here at the inception of a new year, for most people a time of starting anew. We are also at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadhan, for those of the Muslim faith a time of spiritual renewal. It is partly by design and partly by coincidence that the turnover of the leadership of the ASEAN Secretariat comes at such a time.

For ASEAN, too, this occasion is a time of renewal, of a new beginning. But, in looking forward to the new year, to a renewed life, to a new leadership for ASEAN, we must not forget the past year, our past life, the outgoing era in ASEAN, on all of which we must build the future.

It is in this sense that we pay tribute today to Dato Ajit Singh, who was the first Secretary-General of ASEAN, and not only of the ASEAN Secretariat, as was the case of the Secretaries-General before him. As ASEAN's first elected Secretary-General, Dato Aj it built, almost from scratch, the Secretariat as we know it today. He assembled a superb staff, the first to be openly recruited on the strength of merit alone. He drew up the organization's architecture and constructed its foundations. He established its operational procedures. He wove its network of contacts around the world.

This is Dato Ajit's priceless legacy not only to me but to Southeast Asia - a great staff and a functioning and dynamic organization. The ASEAN family, and I particularly, will always be grateful to him for this.

This is, of course, a time of transition. At such a time, in any organization, there is always a tendency to tinker with the structure of the organization, to make changes for the sake of change.

I will resist that temptation.
But a transition, like this season, is also a time of renewal.

Facing the challenges

ASEAN is faced with challenges such as it has not faced before - the challenge of enlargement, the challenge of scope, the challenge of integration, and the challenge of identity.

Suddenly, ASEAN is now an association of nine members, whereas it had only six two and a half years ago. It will, before long, be an association of ten - all ten nations of Southeast Asia. An enlarged ASEAN means not only a richer and more diverse ASEAN but also a more complex and divergent ASEAN. The challenge here is to make use of our diversity and strengthen our solidarity even more, so that our complexity and our diversity do not become centrifugal forces for us.

As the world becomes smaller, as our region becomes smaller, more and more of the concerns and endeavors of people and nations are becoming trans-national in nature. More and more areas of human activity are, therefore, becoming - or should become - the subjects of ASEAN cooperation. The challenge for ASEAN is to promote and support and manage ASEAN cooperation in these increased areas without over- stretching the resources of the association or of its member-states.

Recent events in our region and the emerging trends for the future have demonstrated the imperative of approaching ASEAN cooperation in an integrated manner. No longer can we separate financial from commercial and investment concerns, nor the environment or science and technology from the demands of economic growth. This is the challenge of integration that faces ASEAN today.

It is time for ASEAN to raise a higher profile and project a sharper image for the association and its member-nations in the world, as well as to be better known among its own people. In good times and bad, a positive image is something that can serve us all well.

Mr. Foreign Minister, on behalf of the Secretariat, I take up these challenges, challenges posed to us by the leaders, governments and peoples of ASEAN's member-nations and by the times in which we live.

The Secretariat takes up these challenges within the limits of the resources given us by the member-states, as we must. We do so in the light of the ability of each member to contribute to those resources and the economic difficulties currently suffered by most.

In doing so, we are fortunate in having the generous support of the government and people of Indonesia. In particular, we are lucky that, being headquartered in Jakarta, we have access to the wise counsel and guidance and long ASEAN experience of His Excellency Foreign Minister Alatas. For us in the ASEAN Secretariat, there can be no better mentor and guide.

We are at the command and the service of ASEAN's member-nations, and continue to trust in their support. We look to the cooperation of the ASEAN Ambassadors and of the Ambassadors of the Dialogue Partners in Jakarta. ASEAN has no envoys stationed in other capitals. We have to depend on the Ambassadors in Jakarta to serve as channels of communication and as valued advisers. I look forward to a time of friendship and association with you.

We rely on the Indonesian press and on the representatives of the international media stationed in Jakarta to help us convey ASEAN's message to the people of ASEAN and of the world. We look forward to intensive interaction with you.

As I said in the beginning, Dato Ajit, to his credit and my good fortune, is leaving behind a great staff in the ASEAN Secretariat. I look to you for support, for counsel, for cooperation, for unstinting effort, for steadfast devotion to ASEAN, and, if you are open to it, for friendship.

Let us now get to work.