NEW YORK, Sept. 8 — With the US-ASEAN summit scheduled here on September 24, the diplomatic and consular representations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the United States are working overtime in preparation for this high-profiled event.
ASEAN missions have to organize a host of things such as logistics, protocol, security arrangements, transportation and hotel accommodation before the leaders of the 10 ASEAN states descend on the Big Apple accompanied by large delegations.
Although the leaders will be arriving in New York, primarily to attend the United Nations General Assembly, their meeting with United States President Barack Obama will be the "icing on the cake."
Each year, during the General Assembly session, when delegations from almost every corner of the world arrive in New York, the city's countenance is transformed into one large fortress, with the ubiquitous presence of blue-uniformed policemen posted at strategic points to protect their guests and control the sometimes unmanageable traffic.
"With the General Assembly so close to us, we are, naturally, very busy," admitted Datuk Hamidon Ali, Malaysia's permanent representative to the United Nations, during a reception hosted on September 2 to celebrate Merdeka Day.
Other ASEAN diplomats also echoed Hamidon's view. Indonesia's acting consul general in New York, Bambang Antarikso, who attended the Malaysian reception, told Bernama that it was a "very busy time for all of us".
Indonesians in the United States would like to see Obama pay a state visit to Indonesia; he has already twice postponed his scheduled visit this year because of domestic pressures.
Obama is reportedly planning to visit Indonesia in November this year but many Indonesians in this country are not raising their hopes, particularly because there will be a crucial mid-term election in November.
After the near drought in contacts between the United States and ASEAN during the tenure of President George W. Bush, foreign policy experts now discern a shift, implicit in the efforts being made by the Obama administration to reach out to the ASEAN region where China is building up its presence and influence, an unsavory prospect for Washington.
Obama's first collective meeting with the ASEAN leaders in Singapore last year will be used to further build up bilateral relations in New York.
A White House statement issued reminded that the president and the ASEAN leaders pledged in Singapore to "deepen cooperation in a number of areas of common concern, including trade and investment, regional security, disaster management, food and energy security, and climate change".
Despite the general bonhomie between the US President and the ASEAN leaders in Singapore, the question of Myanmar could cause some irritability.
There is widespread concern in the United States that Myanmar's elections on November 7 would be a farce lacking any genuine democratic character.
Indeed, one of the reasons behind the choice of New York as a summit venue, sidelining Washington DC, was not to upstage the Myanmar regime by inviting it to the US capital.
In Singapore, Obama had urged Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein to release all political prisoners, including Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
The US is, however, also willing to help Myanmar come out of its isolation but the reciprocal gestures from that country's generals have, so far, not been "very encouraging", as one US diplomat told Bernama on the condition of anonymity.
The US will use the New York summit, according to American experts, to underscore the US commitment in Southeast Asia.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has been sending couched warnings to the US business community that unless it can announce tangible deals at the forthcoming summit, the high-profiled event could be construed as an exercise in futility by the participating countries.
Business will also be a key theme on the summit agenda. Indeed, business simply cannot be divorced from international diplomacy these days.
The success of any summit meeting between the United States and a foreign government is measured by the "tangibles" that emerge from such encounters. Merely signing lofty statements of intent are dismissed in public perception as a waste of time and resources.
The US Chamber of Commerce, whose expertise comes into play at such events, has been helping the Obama administration plan the summit; it has asked its Asia Task Force to identify business opportunities between the US and ASEAN member countries that could fructify into full-fledged deals ripe for signature at the summit.
Although, like most Western Europeans, the US continues to be fixated on China and India, there is a growing school of thought within the administration and the business community that calls for greater attention to the ASEAN region, rated the fifth-largest export market by the US business community.
Although US-ASEAN two-way trade exceeded US$ 175 billion (RM545 billion) in 2008, the widespread belief is that there is still tremendous business potential to be tapped.
According to the US-ASEAN Business Council in Washington DC – the USABC participated in the recent ASEAN Economic Ministers' meeting in Vietnam – efforts are under way to look for opportunities that could crystalize into ripe deals at the summit. (PNA/Bernama)
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