Less domestic baggage offers hope for Cambodia's ASEAN chairmanship: Malaysian newspaper

PHNOM PENH - Cambodia's challenge as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year is to seek progress rather than "big bang" initiatives, according to the New Straits Times.

"As a smaller and a newer member state, Cambodia as chair of ASEAN would be less encumbered by domestic preoccupations than larger member states," the Malaysian newspaper said in a commentary published Monday. "There would not be a Phnom Penh wish list to take priority over the ASEAN agenda.

"Prime Minister Hun Sen has already, and rightly, stated that Cambodia would carry forward the recent Bali ASEAN Summit's call for further ASEAN community building, one solidly rooted in economic integration," it said.

"The overall challenge for the host in particular and the membership in general is not to seek big bang initiatives or announcements, but concrete discernible progress," the commentary continued, adding that the real power of the ASEAN chair was to set and manage the agenda.

"Cambodia should not be side-tracked with duller, nuts and bolts issues. It should, in ASEAN's long-term interest, perhaps, revisit the question of closing the development gap between the old and the new members if the region is to establish a real sense of community. It requires substantial shifts in resources."

Among other big issues, the newspaper said, was the failure of the "ASEAN project" to excite the business community. "This lacklustre situation must be addressed," it said, calling for private-sector initiatives, more cultural exchanges and the adoption of a common ASEAN time zone the same as China, Hong Kong and Western Australia.

"Cambodia could also start the ball rolling on creating ASEAN institutions of governance, such as the ASEAN Parliament," it said, adding that the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly could be a forerunner for such a body.

As ASEAN chair, the newspaper noted that Cambodia was expected to host two summits in addition to "countless substantive and preparatory meetings" including ministerial meetings. "What Cambodia and ASEAN should focus on is to continue building a real and harmonious sense of community. It should be more than talk." source

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