ASEAN SUMMIT, PHILIPPINES.

For this blog of ASEAN, I would like to talk about Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Philippines and India-ASEAN Summit. According to my reading, that is the some latest issues of ASEAN nowadays. The issue of ASEAN Summit in Philippines is very interesting for me because there is an agreement of drafting a new charter of ASEAN. As we know, ASEAN have no charter before. The agreement to draft a charter would bright ASEAN in the future in many aspects. There are two sub-titles about ASEAN Summit in Philippines and the other is about India-ASEAN Summit.

Title: 12th ASEAN SUMMIT CEBU, PHILIPPINES.

The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be held in the Philippines. In this meeting, the issues or problems that will talk are a charter proposal and a counter-terrorism convention that would give the ASEAN more ability in enforcing agreements among the nations.

Title: Southeast Asians to draft EU-style charter.

Among the agreement that approved during the annual summit of the Asean in the Cebu, Philippines were the drafting of a new charter that seeks to integrate Southeast Asia much like European Union (EU), establish a free-trade zone by 2015, intensify the war on terrorism, protect and promote the rights of migrant worker in order to ensuring the workers access to services in the country where they work, their education and training, social-welfare benefits on them, the prompt payment of wages, living conditions and decent working. There is also the campaign against HIV/AIDS in the region through education and awareness.During the meeting, a proposal also includes a curriculum, called Asean Studies in universities of the Asean countries. The Summit officials said, the curriculum was part of Asean’s attempt to harness and engage the youth in the pursuit of the vision of one caring and sharing region community.The declaration of the charter has been signed by the Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. This charter will enable Asean to meet future challenges and opportunities of regional integration and Asia’s widening links with the rest of the world.

Title: PM Goes to India-ASEAN Summit to Accelerate New Initiatives.

In other news, India is trying to start new initiatives with ASEAN in order to accelerate the process of economic cooperation in the South East region, called India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In this participation with ASEAN, India will get better opportunities like energy security, mitigating national disasters, stability of the regional financial systems, environment, and other subjects of common interest.As information, India along with China, Japan and South Korea are the dialogue partners of ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Brunei.