Foreign Ministry Launches 50 Years Of ASEAN Book

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched the 50 years book of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to commemorate the history of the organization and determine the steps forward for the association's development.

"The book also reviews the centrality and unity of the ASEAN as well as its strategic role in maintaining regional stability," the Director General of the Agency for Policy Assessment and Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Siswo Pramono, said here, Thursday (Dec 14).

The articles in the book were written by experts from each ASEAN member country, covering their personal ideas on various subjects, Siswo Pramono said after the book's launch.

"The book is mainly concerned with the three pillars of the ASEAN: the political, economic, and sociocultural aspects," Siswo said, adding that articles on the political pillar were written by Indonesian authors, while the economic pillar topics were written by experts from Singapore, and sociocultural pillar articles were written by authors from the Philippines.

The book, prepared by the Agency for Policy Assessment and Development, Siswo Pramono, and Prof. David Price from the Law School of the Charles Darwin University, Australia, is intended to raise public awareness on the ASEAN's history and future.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi, in the preface to the book, remarked that one of the most important achievements attained by the ASEAN over the past 50 years was becoming an ecosystem for peace and stability in the region.

According to Marsudi, in the economic field, the ASEAN has achieved economic growth in Southeast Asia faster than the world's average economic growth, and this achievement needs to gain better appreciation.

In the coming years, the ASEAN will continue to face challenges, the minister noted, adding that while the association has made progress in the economic, political, and security spaces, as well as sociocultural fields, it still has a lot of work to do. (WDY)