Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Saturday called on the 10 members of Asean to work together to accelerate economic integration in order to keep up with Asian giants China and India.
A landmark charter and a blueprint for an economic community to be signed at next week's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit will bring the bloc closer together but more needs to be done, Lee said. "Our countries offer complementary advantages to businesses, and a neutral core around which the rest of Asia can build economic ties, and a regional framework of co-operation," he told a gathering of business leaders.
"To sustain this, Asean has itself to become more integrated and cohesive," he said. "Only thus can we keep up with larger and stronger economies like China and India." Asean states must show the "political will" to implement both the charter and the economic community blueprint, which sets the stage for a single market and production base by 2015, Lee said.
He said the blueprint and the charter, which marks the first time that the 40-year-old bloc will codify its basic principles and organisational rules, would be "critical in enhancing Asean's credibility and attracting investors." "I am confident that with the right attitude and political will, we will achieve this," said Lee.
The charter commits Asean members "to strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms," according to a pre-summit draft obtained by AFP. The economic blueprint, which brings forward Asean's target date for the creation of a free market zone from 2020 to 2015, will mean greater benefits for companies and the more than half a billion people in the region, said Lee.
"Closer economic integration will benefit the peoples of Asean in many ways," he said. "More jobs will be created as the region attracts new investments." Asean secretary general Ong Keng Yong urged the region's business leaders to seize the opportunities that will be created with the signing of the two key documents.
"The private sector, as the main stakeholders of economic integration, have a clear and vital role to play," he said, urging executives to work with governments to help establish a "credible legal regime" to reassure investors.