NEWS COVERAGE ON THE ASEAN DAY CELEBRATION IN SEOUL, 7 AUGUST 2009

NEWS COVERAGE ON THE ASEAN DAY CELEBRATION IN SEOUL, 7 AUGUST 2009

(Related Post: Malaysian Ambassador to South Korea Hosts the ASEAN Day Celebration 2009)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations celebrated its 42nd anniversary Friday with a series of activities highlighting more than four decades of strong regional cooperation. In Korea, the ASEAN Committee in Seoul, held a flag-raising ceremony and reception at the Malaysian embassy on Aug. 7.

Participants included Korean government officials, members of the National Assembly, the private sector, academia and the media.

"With its 42nd birthday, ASEAN looks towards deeper integration as it seeks to build an ASEAN Community by 2015, which will further unite its combined population of 560 million and land area of 4.48 million square kilometers," Malaysian Ambassador and chair of the ASC Dato' Ramlan Bin Ibrahim.

"The ASEAN Charter, ratified by all ASEAN members, will act as the firm foundation in ASEAN's move to become a rules-based, people-oriented and integrated entity."

Externally, Ramlan said that ASEAN aims to further intensify regional ties and enhance people-to-people exchanges through forward-looking projects and closer networks with regional partners.

"ASEAN continues to forge ahead in its relationship with its 10 dialogue partners" (Australia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States).

Korea recently hosted the ASEAN Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island at the beginning of June to celebrate 20 years of dialogue partnership.

In cementing closer ties between the two entities, the meeting also sought to further expand cooperation in new areas, including green technology.

Founded in 1967 to promote political cooperation among stakeholders, ASEAN has expanded to include more member countries and more areas of cooperation in diverse sectors such as trade, security and development.

It is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Malaysia is the current chairman of the ASEAN Committee in Seoul.

(yoav@heraldm.com)

By Yoav Cerralbo

2009.08.10

The heads of missions representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Korea celebrated ASEAN Day on this Friday.

The ASEAN Committee in Seoul held a flag-raising ceremony a day ahead the bloc's 42nd anniversary at the Malaysian embassy here in Seoul.

Ramlan Ibrahim the Malaysian Ambassador to Korea said during the ceremony that Korea and ASEAN have forged successful relations with an anticipated boost in trade, investment and tourism.

AUG 07, 2009

Reporter: cherykang@arirang.co.kr

ASEAN Day: Malaysian Ambassador Dato Ramlan bin Ibrahim, left on the podium, delivers a speech, celebrating ASEAN Day, at the embassy, last Friday. Diplomats from all 10 ASEAN states and Korean parliamentary members and government officials were present as well. Malaysia holds the rotating presidency of ASEAN until the end of this year.

/ Korea Times

09-08-2009