2014 – an important year for ASEAN Community building

2014 – an important year for ASEAN Community building

The year 2014 would be a key year in the roadmap to build an ASEAN Community by December 2015, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh has said.

He also emphasized that ASEAN countries have completed about 80 percent of the measures for building the Community’s three main pillars of politics-security, economics and culture-society.

Whether the bloc can successfully carry out the remaining 20 percent or not depends on what it can achieve this year, the Secretary General said.

The roadmap for building an ASEAN Community on three main pillars consists of nearly 800 measures, which must be fulfilled by December 2015, he said, adding that Myanmar, which serves as ASEAN Chair this year, will play an important role in the building process.

ASEAN countries highly appreciate the theme Myanmar has set for its one-year tenure, which is “Moving Forward in Unity to a Peaceful and Prosperous Community,” Minh said, considering it a reflection of the aspiration of the people of Myanmar and other ASEAN countries.

Commenting on Myanmar’s preparedness for its ASEAN Chair in 2014, the Secretary General said the country has assumed the role for the first time during its 17-year membership of the association, but it has had over two years to prepare for it.

Myanmar’s successful organization of the World Economic Forum on East Asia and the 27th SEA Games last year proves the country has the capacity to fulfill the task as the ASEAN Chair, Minh added.

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