YOGIARA NEWS: ASEAN Day celebrations postponed to Aug. 23: ASEAN Secretariat Due to the long Idul Fitri holiday, the ASEAN Secretariat has postponed the 46th ASEAN Day celebration to Aug. 23, it said in a press release. ASEAN Day falls on Aug. 8 every year. This year, Idul Fitri coincided with ASEAN Day in Indonesia. Indonesia declared public holidays on Thursday and Friday. On Aug. 8, 1967, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines established the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bangkok. Current ASEAN chair Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999.The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta. ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh issued a statement on Thursday regarding the 2013 ASEAN Day. Several ASEAN leaders, including Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, also issued special messages to mark the occasion. "Today we are celebrating 46 years of ASEAN. Each year, ASEAN Day provides us with an opportunity for reflection and greater action,” Minh said in a message sent to The Jakarta Post. “In essence, ASEAN is really about its people building a community and a future together. ASEAN Day reminds us of a dream that we are now turning into reality”. The ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta said that the 46th ASEAN Day celebrations will be held on Aug. 23 at its office. There will be a book launching ceremony and a cultural performance. The new book is “ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and Phnom Penh Statement on adoption of the AHRD” and there will be a panel discussion that features Indonesia’s Permananent Representative to ASEAN Ambassador I Gede Ngurah Swajaya and E. Rosario G. Manalo, Representative of the Philippines to AICHR. With its 617 million people and a combined GDP (at current prices) of US$2.31 trillion, ASEAN is not only developing into a rules-based organization with its own charter and legal entity from a loose regional grouping but also poised to become a community by the end of 2015. Since it is an inter-governmental organization, many people criticize ASEAN for not being a people-centered organization.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 23:59:39 +0000
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