Singaporean Ong Keng Yong Named as a New ASEAN Secretary General

by Ma Nguyen Tong

6-1-2003

Singaporean Ong Keng Yong replaced Rodolfo C. Severino of the Philippines as ASEAN secretary general on January 6, 2003. Ong would serve as ASEAN secretary general for a five-year term of office. He was the former deputy of Singapore's Information, Communications and Arts Ministry. During his inauguration Ong said that Southeast Asian nations must work together and hone their competitiveness to meet an increasingly strong business challenge from Northeast and South Asia.

"Given the very strong potential for economic growth in East Asia and South Asia, if we don't put ourselves on the radar scope of investors andbusinessmen, by default people will just go to Northeast Asia and South Asia," said.

ASEAN is an association which comprises Southeast Asian countries Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN took a further step towards economic integration on January 1, with the original six members slashing import tariffs to under five percent for most products. The aim was to establish the ASEAN Free Trade Area by 2015 at the latest.