MALAYSIAN PM CALLS ON ASEAN TO BOOST TIES WITH RUSSIA AND THE US

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 (Bernama) -- Asean needs to re-examine and constantly
fine-tune the way it conducts its affairs in order to function more effectively
and efficiently in facing the challenges in the evolving global strategic
landscape, said Najib Tun Razak.

The Prime Minister said Asean must also to find ways to enhance the
participation of Russia and the United States (US) in the Asia-Pacific regional
architecture.

This was necessary in view of the importance of the US which represented an
integral part of the Asia-Pacific regional order, while Russia’s geography gave
it a major state in the affairs of the region, he said in his keynote address at
the 24th Asia-Pacific Roundtable, here Tuesday.

Also present at the three-day roundtable organised by the Asean-Institutes
of Strategic and International Studies (Asean-Isis), a network of leading
think-tanks in Southeast Asia was the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah.

Najib said there was compelling logic to enhance the participation of these
two countries in the Asia-Pacific regional architecture since Washington would
continue to exercise substantial economic, political and cultural influence for
the foreseeable future.

"Moscow is earnestly intensifying its bilateral engagements, a development
that has been warmly embraced by regional countries," he said.

Najib said the potential for relationships of Russia and the United States
for the Southeast Asian nations was also apparent as had been reflected in the
Asean Summit in Hanoi recently, where the clearest-ever expression had been made
to encourage Russia and the United States to deepen their engagement in the
evolving regional architecture.

He said both states had also met the formal requirement for participation
in the East Asia Summit (EAS).

"They have signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, are dialogue partners
of Asean, and have substantive cooperative relations with the organisation and
individual state," he said.

He also urged participants to the conference to deliberate on how the
eventual involvements of Russia and the United States in this region could be
realised.


On the Asia-Pacific regional architecture, the Prime Minister stressed that
it should be viewed as a series of concentric circles with Asean at its core,
followed by the Asean Plus Three (APT) and the EAS, where they represented the
evolution and growing maturity of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

"For Southeast Asia, the regional architecture is and will continue to be a
work in progress. We will seek to consolidate the significant gains that have
been achieved within Asean and the APT.

"At the same time, we will develop the EAS as an avenue for cooperation with
an extended circle of countries from the wider region,” he said.

The conference which ends tomorrow is attended by some 250 participants from
the Asia-Pacific region comprising envoys, academicians and NGOs.

-- BERNAMA