Q: Was there approval of the Malaysian proposal on the ASEAN+3 secretariat in Kuala Lumpur ?
Minister: It was reflected in the communique, which I believe will be adopted. Personally, I think there has been much ado about this, much more than in fact what has been discussed. I myself would emphasise the positive of the discussion, which is that there is agreement amongst ASEAN ministers that we should strengthen our relationship with the external players, PMC Dialogue Partners as well as the Plus 3. Where there is a divergence of views is how to go about it. There are two approaches. One is the approach of Malaysia, which is to have a separate mechanism, separate from the Secretariat in Jakarta. The other approach is that we need to strengthen the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta because it is already dealing with the Plus 3 and the other Dialogue Partners. And my sense is that the majority of the Ministers prefer to build on the existing Secretariat mechanism. It may be it has to be strengthened or it may be there has to be a new unit within the Secretariat. And there were concerns that if we were to have a new separate mechanism, whether for the Plus 3 or for the PMC, then this may lead to an inordinate duplication of work and duplication of resources. It was thought that it may be premature to think of a separate mechanism. And for Singapore, we think that kind of argument makes a lot of sense, and we have gone along with the majority.
Q: Will Singapore's candidate then be the next Secretary-General of ASEAN?
Minister: That's on a separate matter, yes. At the meeting just now, there's been unanimous endorsement of Mr Ong Keng Yong as Secretary-General and I thank them for their support. In January 2003, he will be ASEAN's man at the helm of the Secretariat and therefore, charged with implementing the decisions and policies which the leaders and the various Ministers at the different forums take on ASEAN's future.
Q: Have you been discussing the strategies to compete with China with other ASEAN members ?
Minister: I think we will continue the discussion this afternoon. But the general sense we have is that ASEAN is going through a period of consolidation. And this consolidation is in two aspects - one is that ASEAN countries taking steps to get their economies back together; that's one facet of the consolidation. The second part is consolidating their relationship with external players. And I'm glad, because Singapore has emphasised that ASEAN needs to be outward looking. So, when you talk about China, that's one part of the present concerns of ASEAN that it has to be relevant in its relation with the other countries, whether it is China, Plus 3, with the PMC partners and so on.
Q: Would you tell us how much of a focus was given to terrorism by the Ministers ?
Minister: There is considerable focus as you can see from the communique. And I believe there will be some discussion at the Retreat today, so I cannot pre-empt the discussion. But as His Majesty mentioned in his opening speech, his references to terrorism probably reflect the prevailing view in ASEAN, and the prevailing view is that we have to work together, in as many ways as possible, whether it is bilateral, whether it is individual resolve and actions, whether it is trilateral or whether it is an agreement with the US -- there has to be multiple programmes to combat -- and I think there is no disagreement on this.
Q: Countries representing a third of the world's Muslims are here. Do they have any other views to add to the war on terror ?
Minister: That has not manifested itself. I would say there is a considerable convergence of views that we should work together. And recent events had shown that it is now not an academic matter.
Q: Will the ASEAN sign an agreement with the US on Wednesday or Thursday ?
Minister: My understanding is it is very close to finalisation. I have seen the draft that the officials had worked on. I think it is a good draft. It emphasises that ASEAN wants to work with the US in certain concrete measures. From Singapore's point of view, we will be supportive. I do not know whether in the finer crossing of the 't's and dotting of the 'i's, if there may be some drafting problems, but on substance, I gather that there is no difficulty. So, I think it will be signed.
Q: What about the substance? Some delegates were saying they want it to not just focus on terrorism but also to bring up trade issues, non-tariff values. Is that something that was brought up ?
Minister: No, that is not in that document.
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