By Xinhua
Jakarta : The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)’s new secretary general, former Thai foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan, vowed to get the landmark charter of the 10-nation bloc ratified, a local newspaper reported Tuesday.
The charter, which turns the grouping into a full legal entity and creates legally binding rules, needs to be ratified by all members to take effect.
“We have a blueprint for the future in the form of the Asean Charter. It is meant to help us consolidate our core, improve our coordination, and accelerate our speed in the face of new challenges and stiffer competition,” The Jakarta Post quoted Surin as saying.
Surin said he would spend the first few months of his term visiting every Asean nation asking them to ratify the charter.
The Asean leaders signed the charter during the summit in Singapore in November last year and all members are required to ratify it within a year.
In the handover ceremony here Monday, outgoing Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong of Singapore said the Asean charter, signed during his tenure committing the region’s disparate nations to promoting human rights and democratic ideals, would transform the bloc.
Singapore became the first Asean member to ratify the document shortly after it was signed. The country’s director general for Asean, Jacky Foo, handed over a copy of the ratified document to Surin on Monday.