Warwick hosts ASEAN conference

On 22 February Warwick University held its first ASEAN conference at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The event was professionally organised and coordinated by students.

ASEAN, or the Association of South East Asian Nations, is a region encompassing 10 countries (including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore among others) and over 600 million people.

By the end of 2015, ASEANs aim is to establish a single regional common market within the area, which will bring about new opportunities through economic integration, co-operation, and connectivity between member states.

Lasting the entire day, the conference was split into four panels with the prime focus being the Political and Economic ones. The highlight of the event was supposed to be the welcoming address by Tony Fernandez, the CEO of Air Asia, but due to last-minute commitments, a pre-recorded video was played instead.

He praised the conference and explained why he chose to sponsor it even when it started simply as an idea. He said: “Air Asia for me also started off as an idea; a dream.”

The Political panel focused on security challenges facing ASEAN in the 21st century, and welcomed His Excellency Sayakane Sisouvong, the Laos Ambassador to the UK, as its key speaker.

Mr. Sisouvong said: “We have successfully established ASEAN but in many areas we still have mistrust for each other.” He stressed the importance for today’s youth to study the history of the region, from colonialism and independence to the Cold War and beyond, as a way of building mutual understanding and trust.

He also elaborated on the challenges facing the region, from internal ones like money laundering, drug trafficking, and labour exploitation to external ones like the inability to balance various national interests.

As a possible solution to these challenges, he suggested developing shared values, implementing an ASEAN charter, and working together to improve existing institutions within member countries.

Professor Duncan McCargo, president of the European Association of Southeast Asian Studies, was slightly more sceptical. He said that in recent years there have been internal and regional disputes within ASEAN: the shooting war between Thailand and Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple in 2009-11, the regional dispute concerning territory in the South China Sea, and above all, the inability of ASEAN to develop a robust dispute resolution mechanism.

On a more positive note, however, Nicola Stewart, the Southeast Asia Research Analyst for the UK Foreign Office, reassured the audience that although there have been territorial disputes, internal instability, and religious extremism within ASEAN, the region pulled together successfully and thus there is hope for the future.

The Economics panel followed, which examined whether the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) planned for the end of the year would actually work.

According to Professor Danny Quah, director of the Southeast Asian Centre at LSE, the main challenge facing ASEAN is how it will position itself in a changing global economy.

In particular, he argued that ASEAN has a disadvantage of having huge income inequality – both across ASEAN countries and within them.

The GDP per capita in the richest country in the EU is six times more than that of the poorest country. In contrast, in ASEAN the figure is that of 55 times more. The AEC will however avoid some of the pitfalls of Europe. There will not be a single currency, and neither will there be a monetary or fiscal union.

Dr. Gerard Lyons, Chief Economic Advisor to the Mayor of London, further brought to light that in order for the AEC to work, governments need to step up their game in terms of funding. He pointed out that currently, the EU budget is approximately 10,000 times the ASEAN secretariat.

The conference concluded with the idea that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ model and that ASEAN has yet to prove itself. It did however stress that despite its shortcomings and challenges, the future looks bright for ASEAN.