AsiaNews Magazine Jan10-16,2014 ( Jan 1-7,2014) | Page 19

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January 10-16, 2014

Asia and the Pacific.
It used to be little noticed. But
in recent years, Escap has grown
in profile and stature under
the leadership of Dr Noeleen
Heyzer, a Singaporean with
close family ties to Malaysia.
Last week, Escap ministers
took a step forward by adopting
a four-pronged programme to
link up the countries of West,
Central, East and Southeast
Asia and the Pacific.
The ministerial conference
adopted a Bangkok Declaration
on regional economic
cooperation and integration
in Asia and the Pacific.
Heyzer highlighted the four
pillars for regional cooperation
— an integrated regional market,
seamless connectivity, financial
cooperation and regional
response to vulnerabilities.
During the opening ceremony,

Timor Leste’s Premier Xanana
Gusmao pointed out that the
context and circumstances of
each country are different,
which should be taken into
account when advocating
regional cooperation.
Moreover, the aim should
be development for the
people, not the benefit of
transnational companies or a
corrupt global financial elite.
He struck a cautionary tone
that the plans for regional
integration should result in
mutual benefits including for the
weaker countries, and should
not pry open the economies
to powerful economic entities
and global financial markets.
Leaders from less developed
countries such as Samoa, Laos
and Tuvalu stressed the need to
give leeway and special treatment
for the smaller and weaker

countries when negotiating
trade agreements, so that they
do not get further marginalised.
The Bangkok Declaration
was a good blend of
four action areas:
> Moving towards forming
an integrated market, including
bringing down trade barriers
(but with special treatment for
weaker economies), recognising
the importance of migration
flows and intra-regional tourism.
> Enhancing financial
cooperation, including
mobilising Asia’s immense
financial resources towards
short-term liquidity support
(to help countries with
foreign exchange problems),
trade finance and funds for
infrastructure development.
> Increasing cooperation to
address shared vulnerabilities
and risks, including the issues