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HISTORY & BACKGROUND |
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Exactly one year after returning home from my additional 4-year training at the ENT Department at Westfaelische Wilhelms University in West Germany and reassuming my position as staff member of the ENT Department University of Indonesia, I read about the foundation of the ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH-EAST ASIAN NATIONS on the 8th of August, l967 which issued the ASEAN DECLARATION (BANGKOK DECLARATION) signed by the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
I was very impressed with the content of the Declaration, especially the part that encompass the aims and purposes of the Association, which read:
The aims and purposes of the Association shall be :
- To accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development inthe region thorough joint endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of South East Asian nations;
- To promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries of the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter;
- To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, technical. scientific and administrative fields;
- To provide assistance to each other in the form of training and research facilities in the educational, professional, technical and administrative spheres;
- To collaborate more effectively for the greater utilization of their agricultures and industries, the expansion of their trade, including the study of the problems of international commodity trade, the improvement of their transportation and communication facilities and the raising of the living standards of their peoples;
- To promote South-East Asian studies;
- To maintain close and beneficial cooperation with existing international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes, and explore all avenues for ever closer cooperation awning themselves.
Since just reading the above Declaration, I have considered it a masterpiece and its content and meaning have never let my mind.
 For full article, please download the pdf document, here!
by
Purnaman S. Pandi, MD
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