| Azlan Othman |
THE new Secretary-General of Asean Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi urged all member countries to stay united as different challenges lie ahead, saying the grouping must ensure it advances towards inclusive growth and sustainable development.
Over the years, Asean has made outstanding progress, with the region enjoying continued peace, stability and security, Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi said in his speech during the transfer of office at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta yesterday.
He succeeds Le Luong Minh from Vietnam who completed his five-year term on December 31, 2017.
“The constantly evolving global and regional landscape means that the challenges and opportunities facing Asean today are different compared to its early days,” the new secretary-general said.
As an inter-governmental organisation, its 10 members have occasionally had a hard time in finding a common voice on sensitive national issues. But the principle of non-interference has been a useful glue to maintaining unity amid any disparities that arose from time to time.
“The world is looking at Asean and will measure its success on Asean resilience, how it stays on course in its integration efforts and how it responds to emerging issues and developments arising from the interconnected world,” he said.
“With the new and emerging challenges, the immediate tasks for Asean would be to prepare the people of Asean for the new technological age, and to ensure the region advances towards inclusive growth and sustainable development.”
He added that it is also important for the Asean Secretariat “to be more proactive and savvy in order to serve Asean member countries” and improve its capability to prepare member countries on issues that will affect Asean the most.
Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi also took the opportunity to thank former Secretary-General Le Luong Minh for his valuable contribution to Asean from 2013 to 2017.
The transfer of office ceremony coincided with the ground-breaking for the new Asean Secretariat annexture.
On the building expansion, Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi said, “Greater demand on the role of the Asean Secretariat coincides with the expansion of the Asean Secretariat building. Once completed, the new home of the Asean Secretariat will greatly elevate Asean’s profile as an important institution on the international stage.”
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi agreed with Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi, saying that “the global role of Asean must be strengthened. This requires the unity of Asean. With its unity, the centrality of Asean can be maintained”.
Marsudi also said that this year, Asean is entering the second phase of another 50 years, and this second phase calls for a modern, responsive, effective and better-equipped Asean Secretariat.
“Aside from continuing to strengthen its sense of community, bring benefit to its people and maintain its role in peace and stability in the region, Asean must also be able to contribute more to the world,” she added.
On the tropical storm that battered the southern Philippines last month leaving at least 240 dead and tens of thousands displaced, Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi said Asean needs to beef up its disaster management efforts.
“Our region is disaster-prone,” he said, adding that this underscores the need to strengthen Asean cooperation in disaster management and humanitarian assistance.
“Asean must be more proactive and improve (its) capabilities in disaster-relief efforts. It is therefore incumbent upon us all to enhance the resilience of our communities through disaster risk reduction interventions, climate change adaptation strategies, as well as conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity and natural resources,” he added.
Dato Paduka Lim Jock Hoi was until recently a permanent secretary at the Brunei Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He served as Brunei’s chief negotiator during the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks.
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