Asean Global Dialogue attracts Asean leaders

He said that Asean now has a charter and it has a vision of building one community that will uplift the living standards of 570 people of in the grouping. "We have to turn crisis into opportunities, " he said.

He said that the Asean Secretariat and Thai government have jointly organized Asean Global Dialogue on 18 December right after the summit. These leaders who have confirmed their participation including Robert Zoellick of the World Bank, Supachai Panitchpakdi of Unctad, Pascal Lamy of the World Trade Organization, Haruhito Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Ban Ki Moon of the United Nations.

"This will be the first time of such a gathering. Great people get together, there will be great results," Surin added.

He said the challenges confronting the region including the unfolding global financial crisis and its destructive consequences, unprecedented natural disasters, the implications of Asia's rise and ability to provide leadership, the call for greater participation in the evolving international order, the human development nightmare, communicable diseases, redefining standards of global governance are among the serious challenges confronting humanity.

Thailand will host the 14th Asean Summit in Chiangmai on 15-18 December 2008 which in Surin's words provide a historic opportunity for ASEAN to reaffirm the growing importance of the region in the international arena.

Now in its 41st year of existence Asean is making its presence felt in different ways. Surin said that amidst the current unprecedented financial turmoil in the west, Aseanand East Asia are expected to be the new growth centre that will stabilize the international system.

He added that the  Asean policies have promoted the peace and stability of Asia and contributed to East Asian regional community building through various regional architectures  such as the Asia.

 Surin also welcomes the new US administration's plan to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation and interest to join the East Asian Summit (EAS). "We welcome the US with open arms in signing the TAC," he said adding that the decision for the US on EAS would depend on the EAS members which include the 10-member Asean countries, Japan, China, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.