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Re-vitalizing regionalism

By Ioan Voicu - posted Thursday, 29 June 2017


We are witnessing at present a dangerous and unpredictable political turn against multilateralism, which is a complex process generated by many factors, but first of all by an increased polarity and fragmentation in world politics.At the same time, the visibility of a major political interest for regionalism is more obvious than in the past, as open, robust regionalism is considered by many countries as a strong influential force in the globalizing world. The area of Asia and the Pacific offers in this regard some persuasive examples.

An important anniversary

At a time characterized by a less friendly environment for genuine multilateralism, the 70th Anniversary of the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) should be regarded by historians as a real landmark.

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In a message addressed to the 73rd ESCAP's session, which took place in Bangkok in May this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres congratulated ESCAP on this auspicious event by saying :

This dynamic institution is at the heart of the largest trading hub in the world. Asia and the Pacific are also leaders in science, technology and innovation. At the same time, many challenges confront this region which is home to half the world's poor…

Indeed, ESCAP is the largest regional structure on our planet, born in Shanghai in 1947 with an initial membership of only ten countries, and is now based in Bangkok, with a composition of 62 members and associate members. This is the only regional commission in the world reuniting all five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The area covered by ESCAP is home for the greatest demographic power (China), the biggest democracy (India), the largest Muslim country (Indonesia) and an officially un-specifiable number of nuclear powers. In addition, ESCAP includes countries belonging geographically and politically to both Europe and Asia, like Russia and Turkey. This fact introduces another element of geo-political originality in the concept of regionalism and provides consistency to the notion of Euroasia.

Over the past 70 years, the whole area of Asia and the Pacific went through deep transformations which are equal to a real seismic shift. The vibrant economic and social trajectory of the region is unprecedented. ESCAP area accounts for over a third of the world's output and is on track to make up half of global GDP by 2050. 61 percent of the world's foreign exchange reserves are located in this area. It offered exemplary regional solutions to global problems. While in 1990, 50 percent of ESCAP's population lived in poverty, in 2012 this had fallen to 15 percent.

A significant session

The 73rd ESCAP's session mentioned above met in Bangkok in May this year, under the theme topic "Regional cooperation for sustainable energy".

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The Presidents of the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau, and the Prime Ministers of Tonga and Tuvalu, were among the high-level participants taking part in this year's session.

Several key ministers attended the High-level Dialogue in order to explore ways and means for advancing regional economic cooperation and integration in support of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This dialogue provided a useful platform for all members and associate members to share their national priorities and perspectives on regional economic cooperation for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The theme topic for 2017 "Regional cooperation for sustainable energy" offered all participants the possibility to consider appropriate policy approaches to deal with normal access to energy sources, in the difficult process of passing from traditional sources of energy to clean sustainable energy for all. This is a vital objective for the 420 million people in Asia and the Pacific who have no reliable access to electricity.

From a diplomatic perspective, an important outcome of specialized negotiations on the matter was the approval of the results of the first session of the ESCAP Committee on Energy ( January 2017), as well as the decision for launching the intergovernmental process for the preparation and successful holding of the Second Asia-Pacific Energy Forum in 2018.

The Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development managed to adopt a regional road map for the implementation of the 17 SDGs contained in the 2030 Agenda. The ESCAP region is expected to become an area much more closely integrated economically, better connected through roads and other infrastructure, and adequately prepared to rebound from natural disasters and other shocks affecting Asia and the Pacific.

ESCAP's activities on regional economic cooperation and integration contribute to promoting a more integrated, sustainable, and resilient connectivity in this geographical area, while ensuring a balance of social, economic, and environmental aspects. In this regard, progress in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) could further assist in the implementation of the SDGs. A Master Plan for an Asia-Pacific Information Super Highway was elaborated in order to enable a widespread use of ICT across the Asia-Pacific. Giving tangibility to this Plan could help reduce the cost of delivering health and education services through e-health and e-learning platforms.

The ESCAP region is growing fast, gaining the position of a respected global economic leader. New freedoms and opportunities are becoming tangible. Yet, progress can be disconcertingly fragile. The economic expansion of Asia-Pacific countries has been steady, but it appears modest if we compare it with some past positive trends.

We witness weak external demand, rising protectionism , serious uncertainties, disturbing inequalities and an alarming environmental degradation. Sustainable regional cooperation is a key in addressing such burning issues.

ESCAP, as the main mechanism of multilateral cooperation in the area, has made important contributions to the Asia-Pacific economic development and social progress. It facilitated the birth of the Asian Development Bank, the largest financial institution in the area.

It initiated the Mekong River Commission, which implements promising programs for regional development. Asia-wide cooperation is being reinforced by intra and inter sub-regional partnerships, forums and institutions, acting as dynamic bridge-builders. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, the ASEAN Regional Forum, ASEAN plus China, Japan and the ROK dialogue, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the Pacific Islands Forum are providing useful platforms to enhance mutual trust and promote common prosperity. In this respect,we should look also into the past by evoking the Shanghai Declaration, adopted on April 28, 2004 at the ministerial segment of ESCAP's 60th session,a document which can provide important guidelines for future action. It emphasizes ESCAP's unique role as the most representative body for the Asian-Pacific region and re-validates its mandate as the real institutional center within the UN system for this area. It underscores the value of multilateralism and reaffirms the UN's central role in promoting policy coherence on global issues.

The Shanghai session attended by this writer saw the landmark regional treaty - the Asian Highway Agreement - signed by 25 countries. This legal instrument opens a new era in communications and offers additional opportunities for trade and tourism, like a really modernized ``new silk route.'' ESCAP has been negotiating routes and road specifications for the network since 1992. The Highway is a multi-pronged corridor connecting Europe to Asia. In an inspired sentence, the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: ``From Tokyo to Tehran, from Singapore to Samarkand, and from points beyond to those in between, the network now spans 32 countries and encompasses more than 140,000 kilometres.''

The completed project will facilitate border-crossing for people, vehicles and goods, and will provide crucial benefits to landlocked countries. It represents a common platform to share a wealth of natural beauty, of historical and cultural heritage. It gives access to Asian capitals, major industrial and agricultural centers, main air, sea and river ports, and significant tourist attractions.

In 2017, during the 73rd ESCAP's session many countries appraised the Belt and Road initiative of China in promoting larger development in Asia and the Pacific and supported the synergy between ESCAP and this valuable initiative. The session adopted a substantive resolution dealing with "advancing integrated and seamless connectivity for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific " proposed by Chinese delegation. A special ESCAP report on this issue will be considered in 2018.

Refreshed vitality

The development of humanity cannot be conceived without a stable and prosperous Asia-Pacific area. This is essential to world peace. Diversity is a prominent feature of the region. An incredible mosaic, Asia is home to most large nations with a population greater than 100 million. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Brahmanism are an integral part of Asian and world spirituality. It offers convincing evidence that all cultures can and must co-exist in harmony. They are able to cast away any prejudice, discrimination or clashes and promote permanent and constructive dialogue, as an inexorable trend of this century.

However, Asia-Pacific development is ambivalent, and far from smooth sailing. Yet, the region might play an exemplary role in implementing the 17 SDGs, which require not only the hard work of all developing countries, but also the good faith of the developed countries in various negotiations for honoring their commitments under the current amplified expectations.

With a population greater than the rest of the whole world combined, ESCAP members and associate members are expected to take an active part in a more productive and sustainable intra-regional and inter-regional cooperation and increase political and security consultations in fighting the terrible phenomenon of terrorism and other global threats.

The 62 ESCAP members and associate members have the real potential to develop fruitful partnerships based on equality and mutual benefit. Their destination is well defined: a world of stability, well-being, peace, responsiveness and order, animated by a full and pro-active solidarity. In their multifaceted efforts Asian-Pacific peoples have solid reasons to cultivate a moderate optimism. However, their optimism can be legitimate only if the foundations on which it rests are in harmony with the formidable requirements of a new era of global responsibilities.

As ASEAN celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it should be recalled that ESCAP has been a permanent strategic partner of this regional institution. These intergovernmental regional institutions are able to promote complementarity between the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). They should over the next decade meaningfully assist in narrowing national as well as intra-regional gaps, by creating balanced urban growth, mitigating climate change consequences and adapting to its effects, being guided in this process by the AEC 2025 and the UN 2030 Agenda. An interesting and promising example in the area of disaster response was already offered by the rapid reaction to Cyclone Nargis which struck Myanmar in 2008. ESCAP and ASEAN cooperated in facilitating the flow of immediate humanitarian assistance and in helping during the post-disaster recovery phase. This successful partnership was further developed in 2011 with ESCAP's support for the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.

Scrutinizing the future

There is no doubt that with the establishment of the forward-looking ASEAN Vision 2025 and the generous objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda, the collaboration between ESCAP and ASEAN has good chances to be further improved in the near future and contribute to giving more credibility to the strategic significance of regionalism.

UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar highlighted that ESCAP has, over the years, reformed and reinvented itself to serve the needs of the region, finding multilateral solutions to regional problems. "With unwavering commitment to UN principles, we promote multilateralism, inclusiveness and openness, and these principles are still pertinent today as we look to the future and address growing inequalities."

Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, General Tanasak Patimapragorn emphasized Thailand's ongoing commitment to support the work of ESCAP, noting that through 70 years of partnership, remarkable success has been achieved in economic growth and social development, while acknowledging that many challenges still remain, including inequality, climate change and natural and man-made disasters.

Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Mr. Enele Sosene Sopoaga, who was elected Chairman of the ESCAP's 73rd session, stated that the greatest challenge of our time is indeed climate change, particularly for vulnerable island countries like Tuvalu, and that the 2030 Agenda cannot be achieved, unless this issue is effectively addressed. He stressed that the challenges of climate change, energy security and ocean degradation, are too difficult, if not impossible for individual countries to address, and that ESCAP provides a significant platform to support regional and international cooperation in these important fields.

The current world is characterized by global vulnerabilities, perplexities and discontinuities affecting global , regional and inter-regional cooperation in all fields. Many elements of instability and unpredictability have a negative impact on international arena and on its actors.

Under such unfavorable circumstances, many states are trying to find workable solutions to their major problems not at the global, but at the regional level. They find merits in promoting open regionalism based on fundamental values proclaimed by the UN.

In 1947 ESCAP was created to help Asia-Pacific region to recover from war and conflict. Official assessments converge in asserting that this region's growth since then has been remarkable. However, if poverty and inequality are still obvious realities in this area , ESCAP's complex mandate remains highly topical for the future in order to make sustainable development a success story for the generations to come in Asia and the Pacific area.

While more than 430 participants attended the 73rd session of ESCAP in 2017, it should be noted that only 48 member states and associate members were reported as represented at the 73rd Commission session this year. Many representatives have been silent during the general debate in the plenary meetings. This is a fact whose relevance must not be underestimated having in mind that ESCAP is composed, as mentioned above, of 62 members and associate members.

It is obvious that additional diplomatic efforts are needed in order to ensure full participation of all members and associate members in the ESCAP's regular sessions in the years to come , to make it more attractive and adaptable for all and to encourage all delegations to be active in the consideration of items which are of vital significance for the future of their countries.

The next 74th session of ESCAP will be held in May 2018. The Advisory Committee of Permanent Representatives and Other Representatives Designated by ESCAP's members considered proposals for a theme topic for the 74th session of the Commission and decided to submit the following proposal: "Inequality in the era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".

This theme topic could cover the state of inequality with regard to the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, social ,environmental); inequality and mega-trends in Asia and the Pacific; and opportunities for addressing inequalities under the SDGs.

The above theme topic was approved by the ESCAP's plenary and a fruitful discussion on it is expected in 2018.It could offer further illustration of the validity of efforts aiming to promoting successful regionalism, while building on the positive signals that emerged from the 73rd ESCAP's session in 2017.

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About the Author

Dr Ioan Voicu is a Visiting Professor at Assumption University in Bangkok

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