Speech by H.E. Dr. R.M. Marty M.

Natalegawa, at the Flag Hoisting in Commemorating ASEANs 43rd Anniversary, Jakarta, 9 August 2010
Speech by H.E. Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia at the Flag Hoisting in Commemorating ASEANs 43rd Anniversary Jakarta, 9 August 2010 Your Excellency, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN, Your Excellency Mr. Vu Dang Dung, Permanent Representative of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to ASEAN as Chair of ASEAN, Your Excellencies, Permanent Representatives of other ASEAN States, Excellencies, Ambassadors, Friends, and above all, through the Secretary General, I would like to pay a special tribute to dedicated staff of the ASEAN Secretariat, Through you Mr. Secretary General, I would like to thank everyone for the honor you are conferring upon me in allowing myself to deliver a few remarks on this very happy occasion. I am indeed not only honored, but I feel privileged that I should have this opportunity to share some thoughts of the Indonesian government, and my own personal thoughts, as we, all of us, celebrate ASEANs 43 years of existence. On behalf of the government and people of Indonesia, I would like to join all of you in celebrating this moment, a very happy and auspicious moment; but at the same time, as the Secretary General has ably put it, we have plenty more to do ahead of us in terms of the challenges that we are facing. Obviously, in the past 43 years, we have seen ASEAN made tremendous contributions to our region, whether it be in the political sphere in terms of promoting international and regional peace and security, and not least, in making it possible for all of us individual ASEAN Member Countries to pursue development efforts as given the benign regional architecture and benign regional conditions that this Association has been able to promote. Indeed, I agree and I am sure all of you would also agree, ASEANs contribution has extended beyond our own region of Southeast Asia. In other words, beyond South East Asia proper and to Asia Pacific to East Asia in

general. One only needs to recall principles such as ZOPFAN (Zone of Peace Freedom and Neutrality), SEANWFZ (Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone) TAC (Treaty of Amity and Cooperation), the various processes that ASEAN has given birth to and promoted, the Plus-1 processes, the Plus-3, East Asian Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum, and The Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. These are all very concrete and real contributions on the part of ASEAN, not only to promote its own regions peace and stability, but beyond Southeast Asia in general. Obviously, as we celebrate this 43rd year of ASEANs existence, we are all reminded that the task ahead of us is still a heavy one. There is still a lot that we have to accomplish, especially if we are to progress beyond the Plan of Action into actual actions. We have set ourselves the target of achieving an ASEAN Community by 2015, barely 5 years from now. We are meant to achieve the 2015 ASEAN Community objectives. Note that it is a community, not only in the economic area, not only in the socio-culture area, but not least, certainly, in the security and political domain as well. In other words, the way we see it, inaction is not an option. ASEAN that is not showing a sense of urgency, not showing a sense of leadership; that in itself is a policy choice. Not participating, not engaging, and not leading discussions on certain issues. That is a policy choice. And such a situation actually encourages others, probably, to take up the lead in promoting and taking the initiative. I must say, however, Secretary General, that we have, we pose a very good record, I think, without being overly generous in concisely responding to challenges. All of us in this room would be very much aware of the exact nature of the challenges that we are facing nowadays. Certainly, far different to the world that we faced back in 1967 when our Founding Fathers of ASEAN took the initiative in building ASEAN. What are some of those characteristics? Obviously, if you were to be reminded of challenges such as food security issues, energy security issues, and the general resources challenges, the various threats that are transnational in nature, we are all reminded more than ever before, that none of these challenges, whether it is on climate change, environmental challenges, transnational issues, none of them are ripe for national solutions. They demand international cooperation whether it is at the regional level or even at the global level. We must address all these various issues in a way that is very agile, very timely and no longer for ASEAN to remain in its own comfort zone, being cocooned from international developments.

And I think if one was to look at the various issues that ASEAN is now very much not only engaged in, but also actually taking the lead on; I think we have reasons to be optimistic that ASEAN has, as a matter of fact, taken the lead in making positive contributions to those resolutions or in addressing of those areas. One thought I would also like to take in this opportunity to share is the subject matter of regional architecture, a subject that we have very much been discussing, especially over the past 6 months or so. I agree with the Secretary-Generals assessment, as I have read in his various pronouncements. I think ASEAN has reasserted itself in terms of the discourse on this subject matter. ASEAN has proven, has earned, and is earning, the leadership or its driver-seat role in the entire subject matter of regional architecture building. As I am sure you are all aware of, at the last ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting, one of the main recommendations of ASEAN Foreign Ministers is to submit to our leaders their own recommendations which include or respond positively, to the expressed intention by the Russian Federation and the United States to join the East Asian Summit. This is part and parcel, we think, of an ASEAN that is addressing the dynamic, constantly evolving, fluid, regional architecture that we are now experiencing. There will not be a moment in time where we can simply say the business of regional architecture building is done, as if we have a perfect constellation. On the contrary, it is an ongoing subject matter. It is going to be with us as we proceed. But we must continue to fine-tune and improve on the modalities that we have. Indonesia believes strongly the recommendation that we have submitted to our leaders will help to promote what it terms a dynamic equilibrium in our region, one that is marked by a continued prosperity, peace, and stability as well. But I would like to express one particular point. As I have begun to read in some of the commentaries on the way we are vis--vis regional architecture building, I have begun to note, and I think the Secretary General can attest to this in some of the private, informal conversations that some ministers have had. There may be some doubts, self-doubts, on the part of countries in terms of ASEANs capacity to continue to lead when the various modalities that it has come with is being expanded, including countries of global prominence. Pessimism can be contagious, as can be optimism. Indonesia strongly believes, as has always been the case, that ASEAN, when called upon, can lead, can be in the drivers seat, in all of these regional architecture building. And therefore, as the Secretary General has kindly acknowledged, Indonesia will continue to invest its efforts, will continue to invest its attention on the building of a strong ASEAN. Because a strong ASEAN, an ASEAN marked by all the visions that we have in terms of the community, is also in the vital national interest of my own country,

Indonesia. In other words, national interests and regional interests, Indonesias interests and ASEANs interests, from my perspective, from our perspective, are one and the same. One final thought, Secretary-General, with your indulgence, in the final analysis, as many of us has often acknowledged, we must deliver. An ASEAN that is really improving the conditions of our population in terms of welfare and the like. We must truly have an ASEAN dividend. In other words, the three pillars we often speak of must actually make a difference in terms of bringing improvements to the conditions and the lives of ordinary people in ASEAN. All of us, ASEAN Member Countries, individually, Indonesia especially, we must be a net contributor to ASEAN in terms of stability, in terms of prosperity and development. Not least, since we have all committed to all three pillars of ASEAN, not just the economic pillar, not just the socio-cultural pillar, but also the politicalsecurity pillar, it also means that while we have developments in our own respective situations and countries, there are also developments that, if positively addressed, will contribute as a value added to our regions stability and peace as well. Those are some of the thoughts I wished to share, Secretary-General. I am truly honored, truly happy to be here this morning. I shall make it a practice. I hope that you would appreciate that Indonesia will continue to shoulder its own special responsibility as the host of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to ensure that ASEAN Secretariat has a home, that is worthy not of its present stature, but also, no doubt, its positive future as well. On this very happy and auspicious occasion, I would like to once again join you, all of you, in celebrating, in marking, ASEANs 43rd year of existence. Especially once again paying tribute to you, Secretary General, through yourself, Secretary General, to your able and dedicated deputies, and most of all to the very diligent and very hardworking and, no doubt as well, your able staff here in ASEAN whom I am aware are not only capable and dedicated but also driven by the requisite ideals of the ASEAN Community. Thank you very much.