Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged to member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as a regional organization, to prepare themselves for establishing cooperation with the international community, ANTARA news agency reported.
"And for now, the effort can begin with internal consolidation," ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan quoted the president as saying after a meeting with him at the presidential Office here Tuesday.
President Yudhoyono, said Pitsuwan, expressed Indonesia‘s full support for ASEAN to enter into cooperation with the international community and hoped the ASEAN Charter could serve as an instrument in preparations for the purpose.
During the one-hour meeting, Pitsuwan and the president discussed several issues related to increasing the capacity of ASEAN‘s secretariat general in the face of future challenges.
In the past, the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta was not yet known well by Indonesian citizens and other communities.
"Therefore, I proposed to the president that the ASEAN Secretariat increase its activities in the cultural and arts fields so that it would be better known by all quarters in Jakarta," he said.
He said in order to increase its responsibility; the ASEAN secretariat needed assistance to increase its facilities.
Pitsuwan said a number of parties had come to the ASEAN secretariat to establish cooperation as dialog partners. Among those were the US deputy state secretary, a representative from the Chinese embassy and representatives from other countries.
"For this we need more rooms and a bigger number of human resources," he said.
Source: www.bernama.com (27 Februari 2008)
