Southeast Asian leaders vowed yesterday to push ahead with ambitious plans to become an EU-style economic community by 2015 despite roadblocks posed by the global financial crisis and Myanmar’s dismal human rights record.
The 10-nation ASEAN concluded its 14th annual summit with a statement saying leaders had agreed to refrain from imposing new trade barriers and would stand firm against protectionism in their quest to create a single market in the next six years.
The statement also called for “bold and urgent reform of the international financial system” that would take into account the needs of developing nations.
As the export-dependent nations of ASEAN grappled with the region’s pressing economic woes, the bloc was forced, yet again, to confront the democratic shortcomings of Myanmar, whose military junta has ignored global demands to free an estimated 2,100 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The summit was the first since the group signed a landmark charter in December that makes ASEAN a legal entity like the EU and moves it a step closer to its goal of integration.
The summit aimed to highlight the charter’s championship of human rights, but the issue suffered a setback when Myanmar and Cambodia refused to hold prearranged talks on Saturday with pro-democracy activists from their countries.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the leaders held an “open discussion” with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein about the country’s so-called roadmap to democracy, which is supposed to culminate in elections next year — the first in almost two decades.
“ASEAN leaders encouraged Myanmar to continue to cooperate with the United Nations and make sure that the roadmap continues according to plan,” said Abhisit, whose country holds the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN.
Myanmar made no public statement during the summit.
ASEAN’s goal of forming a single market mainly involves lifting trade barriers but not, at this point, adopting a common currency.
The closing statement said leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to implement measures adopted in the ASEAN Economic Blueprint,” which calls for economic and some political and security integration by 2015, adding that the scope for regional cooperation must be expanded.
“ASEAN countries are firmly committed to free trade and will do whatever we can to make sure that no countries resort to protectionist measures to try to ease their way out of the crisis,” Abhisit told a news conference.
Summit delegates also worked on the formation of the region’s first official human rights body, but critics said that the body, expected to begin functioning by October when the leaders meet for their next summit, would lack power to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanctions. ASEAN has followed a policy of “engagement” with Myanmar and noninterference in its internal affairs.
Saturday’s incident — when leaders from Cambodia and Myanmar threatened to walk out rather than meet pro-democracy activists invited to the talks — proved a ready-made example of ASEAN’s impotence in regulating human rights.
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