Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Wednesday called
for a more unified and cohesive regional bloc among members of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the push toward a
single market in 2015.
The bloc is marking its
founding anniversary on Wednesday, 45 years after the ASEAN Declaration
was signed in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 8, 1967, with the Philippines
providing the impetus creating the regional body.
“The success of the emerging ASEAN Community has far reaching
implications for our peoples and the Asia Pacific region,” Del Rosario
said in a statement.
As a founding member, the
Philippines “has been steadfast in its commitment to strengthen ASEAN’s
institutions and build an ASEAN Community which is people oriented and
people centered.”
Goepolitical disputes in the
West Philippine (South China) Sea was instrumental in ASEAN’s failure to
come up with a joint communiqué at their close of the foreign misters
meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last month with Vietnam and the
Philippines seeking a common position on China’s aggressive stance over
disputed areas.
To facilitate trade and
investments among members Laos, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Burma/Myanmar, and the Philippines are
going for a single market and production base by 2015.
The Philippines also supports political and socio-cultural integration among the 10 member-countries, Del Rosario said.
To mark ASEAN’s 45th founding day, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and
Department of Foreign Affairs will launch a currency overprint of the
Asean logo on 10 million Philippine P50 bills.
“
This is part of the Philippines’ contribution to ASEAN’s efforts to
boost the spirit of the community among peoples across the lands and
seas of Southeast Asia,” Del Rosario noted. — VS, GMA News
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