Geneva, 13 September 2017. ASEAN Secretary-General H.E. Le Luong Minh was Guest Speaker at the Public Discussion entitled “ASEAN at 50: Able to Meet the Asian Challenges?” co-organized by the Philippine Embassy in Berne and the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) on 13 September 2017.
ASEAN Secretary-General H.E. Le Luong Minh with GCSP Senior Fellow and Senior Programme Advisor under Emerging Global Security Challenges, Dr. Christina Schori Liang
as moderator during the Public Discussion
In his presentation, Secretary-General Minh provided a brief history of ASEAN, shared ASEAN’s secret to its success and its continued relevance in the face of challenges and continuously evolving geopolitical and economic landscape in the Asia-Pacific region. He outlined ASEAN’s achievements under the three pillars and the challenges facing the region. He also touched on ASEAN’s external relations and its engagements with its partners. He said that the biggest success of ASEAN is the maintenance of peace and stability in the region which allows ASEAN to focus on economic development. Shifting power structures and translating ASEAN’s geopolitical significance into power; navigating through its relations with regional powers for constructive engagement; responding to threats of terrorism and cybersecurity; and ensuring compliance and implementing decisions agreed upon were some of the challenges he identified facing ASEAN.
Most of the questions raised during the open discussion relate to security issues such as cybersecurity, ASEAN’s position with regard to the Korean Peninsula, the South China Sea issue; and handling rivalry between the US and China, among others.
Secretary-General Minh was also interviewed by major Swiss regional daily, BZ Berner Zeitung and the Inter Press Service (IPS).
The event is one of the activities lined up by the Philippine Embassy in Berne under the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN, which also coincides with the 50th Founding Anniversary of the association. END
