Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa called on Friday for a new level of measures to promote the integration of ASEAN into the regional community, saying it’s time to move beyond awareness promotion and start instilling a “sense of ownership” of the organization.

“Awareness of ASEAN today is far better than it was 14 years ago,” Marty said in a speech during an event to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the ASEAN Foundation in Jakarta.

“But, raising awareness is no longer sufficient; we have to instill a sense of ownership among the peoples of ASEAN,” he added.

Marty said that to instill this sense of ownership ASEAN should be more “people-centered” and “people-relevant”, meaning that events within or under the banner of the organization should involve more members of the public in the region instead of merely government officials.
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