VietNamNet Bridge – Southeast Asia's effort to improve conditions for women and children was marked yesterday, April 7, with the Ha Noi debut of the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).
In his ceremonial address, attended by 20 members from 10 ASEAN nations, Prime Minister and Chair of ASEAN 2010 Nguyen Tan Dung noted the founding of the ACWC marked an important milestone in ensuring equal development for women and children in the ASEAN Community.
"The formation of the commission is considered an important measure that will help to increase social welfare and encourage the participation of women and children when building the ASEAN Community," said the PM.
Dung said the commission would champion the wishes of women and children within the ASEAN member countries, along with the targets focused on women and children outlined in the ASEAN Charter.
The Charter is the roadmap for building the ASEAN Community and its legislation.
The establishment of the ACWC reflected the aspirations of ASEAN leaders as stated in the 2004 Vientiane Action Programme in their roadmap for building the ASEAN Community from 2009-15.
The roadmap is based on the three pillars of politics-security, economics and socio-cultural issues, and narrowing the development gap, said Dung.
"The move will also contribute to realising the ASEAN 2010 theme ‘Towards the ASEAN Community: From Vision to Action," he said as he praised the contributions made by social welfare groups and relevant agencies within ASEAN.
Dung said he hoped the ACWC would work closely with the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights and other bodies both in and outside the group to help promote and protect the rights of women and children, who account for more than half of the region's population and are the most vulnerable to adverse impacts of the development process.
Socio-cultural community
The ACWC debut was held within the framework of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) meeting organised prior to the 16th ASEAN Summit which opens today in Ha Noi.
The meeting, chaired by Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, discussed the introduction of the ASCC's master plan and implementation of the community's plans in the near future. It also debated and defined priorities for 2010 and adopted a number of documents related to the ASCC's activities.
The region's relevant ministers agreed to prioritise five fields during Viet Nam's year as the ASEAN Chair. The five fields include: developing human resources for sustained recovery; joint response to the global challenges of epidemic diseases and climate change; increasing social welfare and development for the region's women and children; and promoting cultural exchange to raise public awareness about ASEAN and the build-up of its community.
The ministers approved a report developed at Tuesday's meeting by ASEAN senior officials on socio-cultural community and the ASCC's plan on information and communication.
Economic community
Later yesterday, relevant ministers at the third meeting of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) reviewed and evaluated implementation of the community blueprint.
Since the endorsement of the AEC Blueprint in 2007 – which is based on four main pillars of developing a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic region with the same levels of development, and full integration into the world's economy in 2015 – ASEAN has made significant progress in community development, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu told reporters in a post-meeting press conference.
The ASEAN-6 (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) have achieved full liberalisation of 99.65 per cent of the total tariff lines so far this year, and ASEAN-4 – including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Viet Nam – has already had 98.86 per cent of the total tariff at 0-5 per cent under the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs for ASEAN Free Trade Area (CEPT-AFTA).
Early this year, ASEAN witnessed the realisation of the ASEAN-China and ASEAN-South Korea FTAs, and the implementation of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA and the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement.
Nine member states, the Philippines as the only exception, have completed the 7th package on service commitments under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Trade in Services (AFAS), which covers more than 65 services sub-sectors.
In investment, ASEAN continues to experience steady growth of intra-regional foreign direct investment (FDI). Internal ASEAN FDI reached US$10.8 billion, out of the total FDI of $59.7 billion, in 2008. From 2006-08, the total FDI inflows into the region increased by 8.6 per cent, while intra-ASEAN FDI flows rose by 42.6 per cent.
In the financial sector, the enlarged $120 billion swap arrangement under the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation was put into operation last month. The Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility is expected to be realised soon, which will help increase the liquidity of local currencies and develop regional bond markets.
In terms of tourism co-operation, the Mutual Recognition Arrangements on facilitating the mobility of tourist guides in the region and a common set of competency standards for tourist guides in ASEAN have been developed.
Two agreements on air services and full liberalisation of air freight services have been signed to provide for the creation of a single aviation market in ASEAN. The transport facilitation and logistics environment is expected to be further strengthened with the ASEAN framework agreement on the facilitation of inter-state transport.
The regional association has also made achievements in other fields, such as food security with the establishment of the ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and in the energy sector with a petroleum security agreement to minimise risks and respond effectively in emergency situations.
In spite of these achievements, ASEAN still needed to overcome some short-falls, including slow ratification of the signed treaties and commitments to include them in domestic laws.
To solve the problem, the AEC is seeking guidance and intervention from leaders to timely ratify, implement and comply with the agreements and protocols that have already been signed, and to enhance the implementation of measures under the AEC Blueprint.
By VietNamNet
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