Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine October 2017 | Page 86

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Explore | Interview
INTERVIEW
2017 is a special year for the
Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) because
it marks its 50 th anniversary.
ASEAN was crzeated on
August 8, 1967, when Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand signed
the Bangkok Declaration.
To find out more about the future of
ASEAN, Colours sat down with Jose Tavares,
ASEAN-SOM Leader-Indonesia, Directorate
General of ASEAN Cooperation, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
As one of the most diverse regions in the
world, Southeast Asia surely presents ASEAN
with many challenges in keeping the region
stable and peaceful. But the golden anniversary
proves ASEAN can manage them well.
“ASEAN is a regional intergovernmental
organisation. Taking into consideration
its diversity – in terms of different levels
of economic development and wide variety
in ethnicity, languages and religions –
Southeast Asian countries have been building
an integration process that is tailored to fit
the region. We move around based on the
circumstances of the members. This system
means that ASEAN can accommodate each
member’s differences. This is the reason why
ASEAN has survived for the last 50 years,”
said Jose.
Jose added that one of ASEAN’s aims is
to maintain peace and stability in the future.
Indonesia, as one of the 10 member countries
of ASEAN, has actively come up with