Speeches

Junior Pyramid Chinese New Year Dinner
Remarks by Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold

January 30, 2008

Thank you for your kind introduction and good evening, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I am honored to have this opportunity to address so many young leaders of Singapore in the Junior Pyramid on the subject of U.S.-ASEAN relations.  This is an extremely dynamic relationship and important for peace and prosperity for both sides.

The United States places great value on our close cooperation with ASEAN.   During the APEC Leaders Meeting in Sydney in September, President Bush highlighted the importance of our ties to ASEAN when he announced that the United States would name an Ambassador to ASEAN.

U.S. engagement with ASEAN nations, individually and collectively, has never been stronger.  We have forged major non-NATO alliances with the Philippines and Thailand, developed a close strategic partnership with Singapore, and enhanced our military cooperation with others including Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.  We have broadened and deepened bilateral ties with several countries in recent years, most dramatically with Indonesia and Vietnam.

Our trade and investment stakes in Southeast Asia are enormous and growing.  This is reflected in our 2004 Free Trade Agreement with Singapore, our ongoing FTA negotiations with Malaysia, and the Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement that United States Trade Representative Susan Schwab signed with ASEAN in 2006.

With 570 million people and a combined gross domestic product that topped $1 trillion for the first time in 2006, the ASEAN economies collectively represent our fifth largest trading partner.  And no country trades more with ASEAN's members than the United States.

U.S.-ASEAN trade has increased by more than 40 percent since 2001, and now amounts to approximately $170 billion per year.  Furthermore, the United States is the largest export market in the world for ASEAN, taking in almost 50 percent more than China.

U.S. investment in ASEAN – almost $100 billion -- exceeds that invested by us on a combined basis in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

In terms of total exports, imports, and FDI, ASEAN is a more important market for the United States than all of South America.

The United States is excited about the impact of the ASEAN Charter, which ASEAN's leaders signed during the summit Singapore hosted in November.

The Charter will serve as the legal and institutional framework for the organization as it moves towards greater cohesiveness.

The United States Government and our private sector also strongly support ASEAN's blueprint for economic integration, which will become the ASEAN Economic Community.

We believe that the ASEAN Community -- which will include Political-Security and Socio-Cultural pillars as well as the Economic Community -- will be good for everybody by providing an easier place to do business and another anchor for regional stability in Asia.

With our ASEAN partners, we have launched several important initiatives to help ASEAN achieve its objectives.

Since 2005, the Enhanced Partnership between the United States and ASEAN has generated many successful initiatives, focusing on eight priority areas of cooperation.

On the economic front, we have developed an extensive program in support of efforts toward ASEAN economic integration through the U.S.-supported Technical Assistance and Training Facility in the ASEAN Secretariat.  This Facility has been particularly effective in implementing our cooperative activities, managing 106 projects over the last several years.

To tackle the health issues facing the region, the United States supported an expert on pandemic preparedness and avian influenza at the ASEAN Secretariat.  Following an initiative of President Bush and Prime Minister Lee, we have also established and are jointly funding with Singapore the Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention Center (commonly known as the REDI Center) which is working to enhance the region’s capacity to recognize and respond to the threat of emerging infectious diseases.

The United States is also working with ASEAN to assess and build capacity in the areas of information and communications technology, transport, and disaster management.  We’re also working together on energy and environmental protection programs.

The ASEAN Visiting Scholars Program is a new Fulbright initiative which supports the efforts of foreign affairs officials, scholars, and researchers working on ASEAN-U.S. issues.   We’ve selected a Singaporean to participate in the first year of this program.

Let me say a few words about Burma, which some in the room may know as “Myanmar.”  In the decade since Burma joined ASEAN, we’ve had our differences over the tactics necessary to encourage change in that country.  But I believe we’re witnessing a greater convergence of views, not always over tactics, but then at least a growing consensus that the status quo in Burma cannot continue.

The leaders of Singapore and most other ASEAN countries have underscored that the situation in Burma is unsustainable, a view that the United States and most of the international community share.  We’ll continue to work with ASEAN, the United Nations, and our other international partners to press for meaningful change in Burma so that its people can enjoy the freedom, security and prosperity that is so evident in other parts of Southeast Asia.

As acute as the United States’ concern is about the situation in Burma, and as much as we look forward to ASEAN’s help in resolving it, the United States understands that our stake in ASEAN encompasses more than Burma. All of the discussion over the proper role of ASEAN in addressing the Burma situation has the potential to strengthen the organization over time.

I also think it serves as a striking reminder of just how far most of Southeast Asia has come.  Even as Burma has struggled, most of the region’s residents have enjoyed rising expectations of responsible leadership, accountable governance, respect for human rights, and economic well-being.

The United States applauds these advances; we see enormous hope in Southeast Asia’s dynamic people, maturing institutions, intellectual vigor, and receptivity to new ideas.

Before I close, I want to say a few words about the U.S. presidential election this year.  Since we can’t seem to escape from all the news coverage about it, I’m guessing that some of you may have questions on this for me later during the Q and A session.

As you may know, our presidential campaign began many months ago and the next president will be inaugurated in less than a year.

The 2008 election is the first U.S. presidential election since 1928 in which neither a sitting president nor vice president is running for election (or re-election).  This has led to one of the most unpredictable and free-wheeling campaigns in the past century.  Both the Democrat and Republican races are wide open, with different candidates in each party taking turns winning early primaries and caucuses.

The primary election campaign is still heating up.  Next Tuesday, February 5th, which has been dubbed "Super  Duper Tuesday" in the U.S., voters in over 20 states will be going to the polls.  This includes big states like California, Illinois and New York.

The vigorous debate among the candidates will continue through the primaries and will probably get even more heated as we head into the general election in the fall.  Over this long and grueling campaign, the electorate will hopefully be able to sift through the campaign rhetoric, find out where the candidates stand on important issues and evaluate their leadership potential.

Whoever wins, I expect a high degree of continuity in U.S. foreign policy towards and engagement with Southeast Asia and ASEAN.  We have deep and abiding economic, political and security interests in this region that stretch back over many decades.

Both Republican and Democratic administrations have recognized our important stake in Southeast Asia and have nurtured our ties with ASEAN and its member-countries.

The bottom line is that the United States is bullish on ASEAN and confident in its bright future.  The people and government of the United States very much want to help ASEAN realize that bright future and intend to be part of it.

In conclusion, thank you for your attention and I wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year.