SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION WITHIN ASEAN

After 30 years of existence, it seems to me that the EU has done more than the ASEAN has, after the latter’s 56 years of existence. Perhaps that is the way the European psyche works, to go more towards “binding agreements”, as opposed to the “non-binding agreements” born out of the Asian psyche of the ASEAN members. But the fact that the ASEAN has grown in membership over the last 56 years, and it has kept the peace in the region all those years is already an outstanding achievement, considering that we could not even say the same of the United Nations. But after 56 years of being nice to each other, I think that it is time for the ASEAN members to go into some “binding agreements” selectively at least, or as they call it in the diplomatic circles, to go into more “confidence building measures”. Perhaps the best way to get this started is to go into scientific and technical agreements that would solve common problems such as air pollution, ocean plastic waste, wildlife conservation, marine research and earthquake information. The first two areas that I have mentioned are already affecting some ASEAN members that are adjacent to each other, because these problems do not know political boundaries. Generally speaking, all ASEAN members could also go into the sharing of best practices in good governance, disaster management and climate change adaptation, among others. These are under the framework of economic diplomacy. IKE SENERES/03-02-2024