Vietnam Hands CPR Torch to Indonesia

The Permanent Representative of Vietnam, Ambassador Vu Dang Dung, on December 15 handed over the Chairmanship of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) to the Permanent Representative of Indonesia, Ambassador I Gede Ngurah Swajaya. The simple ceremony held at the ASEAN Secretariat was witnessed by the CPR and the ASEAN Secretariat staff.

 

 In receiving the torch, Ambassador Ngurah said that with only four years to go towards the realisation of an ASEAN Community 2015, ASEAN will actively engage with all the Member States and Dialogue Partners to help expedite the full implementation of the ASEAN Community Blueprints.

 

 According to Article 31 of the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN shall have a single Chairmanship by which the Member States assuming the Chairmanship shall chair, among others, the CPR. In principle, 2011 would have seen Brunei Darussalam succeeding the Chairmanship from Viet Nam, and Indonesia would have taken over from Cambodia in 2013. However, during the 16th ASEAN Summit in April in Ha Noi, the Member States reached a unanimous decision to grant Indonesia’s request for a swap of the Chairmanship with Brunei for 2011.

 

 When handing over a replica torch to Ambassador Ngurah, Ambassador Vu said that he hoped that Viet Nam’s ASEAN Chairmanship theme of “From Vision to Action” will continue to translate into the making of an “ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations”, which is Indonesia’s chosen theme to mark their Chairmanship. The Chairmanship begins effectively in two weeks.

 

 The Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, thanked Viet Nam for playing its role efficiently this year. He added that ASEAN has generated much expectations as well as excitement in the region, as demonstrated by the accreditation of over 50 Ambassadors to ASEAN. “With the enormous number of countries taking ASEAN seriously, there is no doubt that all are instrumental in supporting ASEAN on issues facing the global community.”