Envoys mark Asean Day in Doha

 The cordial relations between Qatar and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) was highlighted at the 54th anniversary celebration of the establishment of Asean on Sunday.

The Asean Committee in Doha (ACD), chaired by Indonesia’s ambassador to Qatar Ridwan Hassan, marked the Asean Day commemoration with a flag-raising ceremony and reception at the Indonesian embassy in Doha.The ACD hopes that such ties will further improve in the future, especially in politics, economic, and socio-cultural co-operation.“The ACD welcomes the progress on the accession of Qatar to the Asean's Treaty of Amity and Co-operation (TAC), which has already been reiterated by 54th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on August 2, 2021,” the envoy said in his remarks. “This will pave the way to establish Asean's official partnership with Qatar and foster collaboration on the basis of mutual respect and co-operation.”The ACD Chair underscored Qatar's key role in handling the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, inoculating majority of the population and taking care of affected people.He thanked “His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, other leaders of Qatar and the Qatari people who provided a comfortable, happy and good life for more than 300,000 Asean nationalities residing in Qatar, who also play an important role in contributing to the development of Qatar”.Hassan noted that Asean members, which comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, have been struggling with the pandemic, like many other countries across the globe.“There is no other way to deal with this global pandemic, other than through global co-operation,” he stressed.“While this global health crisis is a challenge for all, Asean has taken proactive steps in tackling the pandemic through collective regional efforts,” the ambassador said. “Further, as stated during the Asean Leaders' Meeting on April 24, 2021 in Jakarta, Asean countries have agreed to use the Covid-19 Asean Response Fund to tackle the pandemic in the region.”“In the upcoming future, Asean will also establish the Asean Centre for Public Health and Emerging Diseases,” he added. “Through these existing mechanisms, Asean will continue to work closely together to better tackle the pandemic regionally and ensure sustainable recovery measures.”Hassan said that the chairmanship of Asean is held by Brunei Darussalam from January 1 to December 31, 2021, with the theme *We Care, We Prepare, We Prosper.This theme portrays Asean’s collective commitment to care for its people and prepare for future opportunities and challenges, with the goal of ensuring that the whole Asean community can sustainably prosper.“Cambodia will take over the chairmanship in 2022,” he said.All of the 10 Asean members, except for Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, have resident embassies in Qatar, which form the ACD, with Indonesia its chairman this year.Asean was formed on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand.“Since its establishment, Asean has become a model of regional association which has successfully maintained the peace and stability in the South East Asia region,” Hassan stressed. “In this regard, we put aside our differences and work together towards the future of a more prosperous region of South East Asia.”“We recognise this as the Asean Way,” the envoy stated.The Asean Day in Doha was attended by ambassadors Hassan (Indonesia), Mohamed Bahrin Abu Bakar (Brunei Darussalam), Zamshari Shaharan (Malaysia), Alan L Timbayan (the Philippines), Jai S Sohan (Singapore), Nathapol Khantahiran (Thailand), and Tran Duc Hung (Vietnam), as well as members of the ACD Working Group.