ASEAN's new chief makes the sky his virtual office

Veeramalla Anjaiah , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 04/21/2008 10:36 AM | World

ASEAN's new Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, a former Thai foreign minister, is a honest man. He frankly admits he has never spent more than five days in a row at his office in Jakarta during his first 100 days in office.

Surin, a Harvard-educated academic turned politician, assumed his duties as ASEAN Secretary General on Jan. 7 of this year.

With the huge task of leading the 40-year-old Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) into a new era of peace and prosperity, Surin is constantly in the air, shuttling between Jakarta and other world capitals, mainly in ASEAN countries.

"During the last 100 days, I have never stayed in Jakarta more than five days in a row. I was either in ASEAN capitals attending meetings or visiting ASEAN dialogue partners and other countries," Surin said during a meeting with members of the Editors' Club in Jakarta on Friday.

Last year, ASEAN leaders signed the historic ASEAN Charter in Singapore. The charter will turn ASEAN into a legal entity with clear-cut rules on good governance, democracy and the rule of law in ASEAN countries.

On the economic front, an ASEAN Economic Community will be established by 2015, unifying the whole region into a single market.

Surin said the main purpose of his visits was to spread the message about ASEAN and its future plans, while seeking support from governments, regional organizations and business people to build the ASEAN community.

"It's a difficult task. Our objective is no longer coordination (efforts to form consensus among ASEAN members) but community building," Surin said.

Surin quickly added that his presence was not required much at the ASEAN Secretariat to run day-to-day business.

"We have qualified people who need minimal supervision. My staff members are doing a good job. I always work with them through my BlackBerry while traveling," Surin said, referring to his wireless hand-held hand phone and miniature computer.

Though there is no official record of how many countries Surin has visited so far, he is already on track to becoming the most widely-traveled ASEAN Secretary General. He may rival even U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has so far traveled to 31 countries as of April 21 this year.

During more than three years as the U.S. chief diplomat, Rice visited 135 countries. Like Surin, Rice uses an airplane as a mobile office while she is cruising to her destination.

While commenting on the ratification of the ASEAN Charter by member countries, Surin said progress had been good.

"We have already passed the halfway mark, Today (Friday), I received the instrument of ratification (of the ASEAN Charter) from the Cambodian Ambassador. With this, six countries have already ratified it," Surin said.

The slow process to ratification in some countries, including Indonesia, shows dissatisfaction over the contents of the Charter. According to them, human rights, democracy and sanctions mechanisms have been diluted due to pressure from some countries.

ASEAN founding members Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as Myanmar, have yet to ratify the charter.

"We understand their internal procedures for ratification. But I am optimistic that all four countries will ratify before the end of the year," Surin said.

Another main task of the ASEAN Secretariat is to promote the "ASEAN identity" by raising awareness in Indonesia, he said.

"We have been here for so many years, and yet people in Jakarta don't feel the presence of the ASEAN Secretariat. We want to change this. We need the media's help," Surin said.

He said Indonesia was an important country for ASEAN to focus on while building a people-oriented ASEAN.

"It was Indonesia's former foreign minister Adam Malik who suggested the name 'ASEAN' for the first time in 1967. We have 560 million people in ASEAN. Almost half of them live in Indonesia," Surin said

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