ASEAN CHARTER – ONE YEAR OLD ON DEC 15, 2009

JAKARTA, Dec 16 (Bernama) -- The Asean Charter which officially came into
force on Dec 15, 2008 is one year old Tuesday.

Meant to transform Asean from a loose association of states to a more
integrated and rules-based organisation, the Asean Charter has, in its
provisions, many ground-breaking institutional arrangements and inspirational
goals.

To mark this first anniversary, the Asean Secretariat Policy Forum – "The
Asean Charter: One Year On", will be held at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta
tomorrow, said a statement from the secretariat.

The panel of speakers will comprise Musa Hitam, chairman of the Eminent
Persons Group on the Charter, and ambassadors Rosario G. Manalo and Tommy Koh,
chairpersons of the High-Level Task Force on the Drafting of the Charter.

They will draw upon their thoughts on the intent and dreams of the framers
of the Charter, the thinking of the Asean leaders on the importance of the
Charter to Asean Community-building, and their own experiences during the
drafting of the terms of reference and the making of the Charter.

"We are now in high gear, placing all the elements of the Asean Charter
into
place," said Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan, on the Charter's first
anniversary.

One new institution established under the Charter is the Jakarta-based
Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to Asean, consisting of full-time
permanent representatives from the grouping's member states, which will
coordinate on a broad range of issues and with all relevant stakeholders.

The statement said the first year of the implementation of the Charter
also saw the Asean Summit, as the supreme policy-making body in Asean, being
held twice.

"There has also been a flurry of non-Asean member states and
inter-governmental organisations appointing and accrediting their ambassadors to
Asean. To date, 27 non-Asean ambassadors have been accredited to Asean," it
said.

Another feather in Asean's cap was the launch of the Asean Intergovernmental
Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) by the Asean leaders at the 15th Asean Summit
in Thailand in October 2009.

"Its work will begin with education and the promotion of human rights and
gradually taking up the more challenging task of protection," the statement
said, adding that as mandated by the Asean Charter, the Agreement on Privileges
and Immunities of Asean had also been adopted.

"This agreement will for the first time provide Asean with a legal
personality and the necessary privileges and immunities for all those performing
official Asean work in the region."

In tune with the purposes of Asean, which includes the creation of a single
market and production base, there has been considerable progress in the
building of the Asean Economic Community while the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA)
is near completion, with tariffs for the six older Asean member states almost
zero by January 2010.

One of the aspirations of the Charter is for Asean to become a more
people-oriented organisation.

With the Charter recognising the important roles which parliamentarians, the
business community, civil society organisations, youths and students play in the
life of the Asean Community, dialogue and engagement between the region's
political leaders and these stakeholders have been institutionalised.

"Much have been achieved in the past year, though much more is to be done in
2010," said Surin as quoted in the statement.

He said Vietnam would take over the Asean chairmanship from Thailand on
Jan 1, 2010 and a high-level Asean Secretariat delegation would soon be heading
to Hanoi to discuss with senior Vietnamese officials the priorities under their
chairmanship.

-- BERNAMA