On 13 July Dato’ Mohd Khalid Abbasi Abdul Razak, Ambassador participated at the Conference on the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN organised by Argentine Council for Foreign Relations (CARI). The seminar was co-organized with CARI and was attended by government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, diplomats, academician and student of international relations. All five ASEAN countries Ambassadors Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines were the speakers of the seminar on a given topic i.e. People to People Exchange by Thailand; Peace and Stability by Vietnam; Trade Cooperation by the Philippines, Inter-Religious and Multi-Cultural Aspects by Malaysia; and ASEAN-MERCOSUR by Indonesia. The seminar was held under the Chatham House rule and it was moderated by Ambassador Eduardo Sadous, Director of Asia of CARI.
Ambassador Khalid during his presentation stressed that ASEAN had maintained its peace and stability due to its multicultural and religion nature in which we in ASEAN over the years have learned to adapt, adjust and tolerate the culture of other ASEAN countries. He stated that ASEAN leaders envision ASEAN as a community of caring societies, conscious of its ties of history, aware of its cultural heritage and bound by a common regional identity. In a nutshell, Ambassador Khalid stated that ASEAN multicultural and religion has brought us where we are now, after 50 years of tolerance and understanding about each member states culture and diversity. He concluded by stressing that ASEAN will continue moving in the same spirit of “ASEAN Way” building consensus for the next 50 years. Kudos to CARI for the excellent arrangement, timely and well attended conference.
