Jakarta’s role in ASEAN could make it the regional hub

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 02/01/2010 10:13 AM

Kebayoran Baru, a residential area in South Jakarta for members of the capital’s upper class may get a lot busier and see more expatriates moving in soon.

Blok M, with its popular amusement center and shopping malls, could be an attraction for many foreigners, not only Japanese or Koreans, who have become traditional customers of the nightclubs and bars dotting the area.

Officials are saying this might be the beginning of a busy period as more countries will appoint their representatives to ASEAN, whose secretariat office is located at the heart of the area.

Currently, 33 countries, including major economies, such as the US, UK, Germany, China and India, have sent their own ambassadors to ASEAN in addition to the ambassadors posted to the diplomatic missions.

ASEAN deputy secretary-general Bagas Hapsoro said Sunday that although several countries still attached their ASEAN representatives to embassies in Indonesia, most of them will have their own office as relations become more complex, with the expectation that they will open their office close to the Kebayoran Baru premises where the ASEAN Secretariat is located.

He went on to say that as interest in ASEAN grows, so too will the number of permanent missions, with Kebayoran Baru expected to be a prime location.

Also, he added, more jobs will be available as, for example, if one representative brings five foreign assistants and employs several other local workers, then hundreds or even thousands of jobs could be created.

“Many representatives are looking for offices and residences in the areas surrounding the secretariat,” Bagas, the outgoing Indonesian ambassador to Lebanon, said.

“These developments can only benefit ASEAN’s centrality and Indonesia’s primary role as a member and host of ASEAN,” he said.

ASEAN has established free trade agreements (FTAs) with many countries, including China, Australia, New Zealand and India, with many more to be implemented soon.

“The FTAs will make ASEAN and its secretariat much busier. And the world will look to Jakarta as an important city,” Bagas said.

Interest is rising among more distant countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah agreed that the Dec. 15, 2008, ASEAN Charter, soon to come into force, has strengthened the position and relevance of the grouping as a rules-based organization, both in regional and international arenas, while giving Jakarta huge leverage as the host of the grouping’s secretariat.

“It will bring huge financial benefits to the Indonesian economy. It will also shape Indonesia’s changing role within the region and the entire world,” he said.

Faizasyah underlined, however, that to reap these benefits Indonesians should enhance their awareness of the new environment that requires Indonesians to be more open and to have a cosmopolitan outlook.

“We have been trying to raise awareness of people across the country through seminars, talk shows and other activities so that more Indonesians know about ASEAN and its impact on them,” he said.

As far as the government is concerned, Faizasyah said a national secretariat under the command of a director general has been established to coordinate other ministries’ activities within ASEAN.

“Indonesia has also sent its permanent representative to ASEAN to channel diplomatic efforts to lobby for our national interests,” he said.

The Government of Indonesia, Bagas said, has agreed to donate more land to enlarge the current ASEAN Secretariat office to prepare for more activity within the grouping.

The ASEAN Secretariat, which the ASEAN leaders have entrusted with the task of implementing the ASEAN Charter, has more than 270 employees, of whom only 70 are professionals, serving 10 countries with a combined population of 585 million people, Bagas said.

“By comparison, the EU employs 14,000 people serving 27 members with a smaller combined population,” he said, adding that Brussels, the headquarters of the EU, has evolved from being a sleepy Belgian town into the robust capital of a new Europe.

“It is time for us to think of Jakarta as an international city by defining it as the new ‘Brussels of the East’, and this includes more support to enhance the role of the ASEAN Secretariat. We should take a fresh look at how we can accommodate both ASEAN and non-ASEAN citizens who work to sustain the centrality of ASEAN,” Bagas said.