SPEECH BY SINGAPORE AMBASSADOR IN PHNOM PENH PREMJITH SADASIVAN AT THE LAUNCH OF THE BOOK 'KNOW YOUR ASEAN' (THE KHMER EDITION), DURING THE REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON CLMV AND ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 2015, AT RAFFLES HOTEL LE ROYAL, 29 NOVEMBER 2011
SPEECH BY SINGAPORE AMBASSADOR IN PHNOM PENH PREMJITH SADASIVAN AT THE LAUNCH OF THE BOOK 'KNOW YOUR ASEAN' (THE KHMER EDITION), DURING THE REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON CLMV AND ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY 2015, AT RAFFLES HOTEL LE ROYAL, 29 NOVEMBER 2011
Your Royal Highness Prince Norodom Sirivudh,
Chairman, Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP)
Ambassador K Kesavapany, Director of Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore
Excellency Dr Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary of State, MFAIC and representative of DPM Hor Namhong
Colleagues from the Diplomatic Corps,
Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen
I am very pleased to join all of you at the launch of the book "Know Your ASEAN, the Khmer Edition" today.
I would like to commend ISEAS and its Cambodian partner, CICP, for working together on this timely and important initiative. It is timely because Cambodia will be assuming the ASEAN chairmanship in January 2012, and steering the organisation towards our common goal of regional integration - of 10 economies and people. It is important because the real stakeholders of ASEAN, after all, are its people, as Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen reminded us yesterday in his keynote address at this regional conference on "CLMV and ASEAN Community 2015".
Enhancing public understanding of ASEAN is an idea whose time has come. With our common goal of an ASEAN Community in 2015, strengthening people-to-people links is an imperative for ASEAN. The stronger people-to-people links are within ASEAN, the easier the task will be to build a common identity and develop a set of shared values amongst its diverse 600 million people. With 600 million people coming together, working together, and doing business with one another, the concept of 'ASEAN Your ASEAN' will take deeper root and form the basis of a full-spectrum ASEAN community.
With dark clouds swirling around the global economy, ASEAN member states are bound to face constraints and challenges. If the pace of integration slows, we inadvertently build barriers to future growth and higher living standards of our peoples. If, on the other hand, we maintain or even accelerate the momentum towards greater connectivity and integration, positive dynamics will be uncorked in the region, expanding our common economic space and brightening our regional outlook. ASEAN will then emerge as a dynamic growth pole of Asia, alongside other Asian powers such as China, India and Japan.
In closing, I would like to specially thank Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong for personally supporting this modest project. The idea of connecting Cambodian youths to other youths within ASEAN has always been close to his heart. Let me take this opportunity to also wish the Royal Kingdom of Cambodia all the best for its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2012.
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