6. Resultados y análisis de datos
6.3. Compresión paralela a las fibras
6.3.3. Análisis de datos
Although cultural, welfare and community cooperation have long been established in the ASEAN framework, they have always been overshadowed by political and economic collaboration. ASEAN has established a very elaborate and multitude cooperation in the field of:
- ASEAN University Network - Culture and Information - Disaster management - Drugs and Narcotic Control - Education
- Health and Nutrition - HIV/AIDS and SARS - Labour
- Rural Development and Poverty Eradication - Science and Technology
- Women, Youth and Children.
In addition to the above, haze pollution has been one of the most highly attended issues, as it has a direct impact on economic and trade activities in the region. Major
episodes of fire and trans-boundary haze pollution occurred in the region during the 1980s and 1990s. The blaze of 1997-1998, which was also known as the El-Nino Southern Oscillation Phenomenon (ENSO), affected Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, was among one of the most damaging in recorded history(Dudley, 1997:8). More than 9 million hectares of land were burnt, 6.5 million of which was forested area. It was estimated that over 20 million people in the region were affected by these fires (Byron & Shepard, 1998:2).
The damage was estimated at more than USD 20.1 billion in terms of economic, social and environmental losses, including the release of an estimated 1-2 billion tonnes of carbon (Varma, 2003: 161). More recently, trans-boundary haze pollution has also become a serious problem in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand.
In northern Thailand, land and forest fires caused the air quality to deteriorate to unhealthy levels during the dry season of 2006 and 200795.
The question of immigration and cross border facilitation was addressed at an early stage. The 5th ASEAN Summit in 1995 in Bangkok identified immigration as an area where cooperation could be further strengthened to support ASEAN economic cooperation. The ASEAN heads of government and state initiated the convening of a consultative meeting of the ASEAN Heads of Immigration for the first time, in order
95 ASEAN treated the haze problem seriously as smog from fire from one country would easily travel to another due to proximity and wind conditions. ASEAN established the ASEAN Hazeonline webpage to inform ASEAN nationals of any occurring haze problem. Please visit http://www.haze-online.or.id/
for complete information on the problem. An elaborate report by WWF written by Vayda, Andrew P.
(1999) Finding Causes of the 1997-98 Indonesia Forest Fires : Problems and Possibilities, WWF Indonesia.
to focus on the simplification of immigration procedures to further strengthen economic cooperation.
The ASEAN Vision 2020, adopted by the ASEAN heads of government and states at their 2nd ASEAN Informal Summit in Malaysia in 1997, set out a broad vision for ASEAN to the year 2020 as a community of Southeast Asian Nations – it must be outward looking, live in peace, be stable and prosperous, bond together in partnership in dynamic development, and form a community of caring societies96.
In July 2006, ASEAN governments agreed to extend visa exemption to all ASEAN citizens who bore their respective national passport. Under the agreement, visas would be issued for up to fourteen days only for visiting purposes. This visa exemption for intra-ASEAN travel by ASEAN nationals would hopefully encourage citizen-to-citizen relationships and eventually contribute to intra-ASEAN tourism.
Every one of these efforts is a signal that ASEAN is putting great emphasis on all fields of collaboration and not only on politics, security and the economy.
Nonetheless, all these activities depend on the continuous good political climate among member states.
2.3 Conclusion
The history of ASEAN shows that member states of this association decided to join the organisation for several reasons, some shared by others and some in the interests of individual countries. The threat of Vietnam has been identified as among the chief
96 http://www.aseansec.org/16572.htm. Accessed on 14 May 2007.
reasons why five Southeast Asian countries banded together in 1967. From the very onset of its formation, the original members of ASEAN carefully planned the future membership of the other five nations, which at last became a reality in 1999 with the induction of Cambodia as the tenth and final member of the Association.
There were also other benefits that came with membership – political and security surety, economic and trade cooperation and cultural diversification – all of which could only be enjoyed if the region avoided any unwanted conflicts. The strict adherence to the non-interference principle in the internal affairs of member states gave the breathing space that was badly needed in order to have an environment conducive to nation-building and economic development.
History shows that since the inception of ASEAN in 1967, neither war nor military conflict has broken out between member states. This by itself is a very fulfilling achievement compared to other regions, such as the Middle East and the African continent, which have been intermittently warring since the end of World War Two.
Chapter Three will discuss the main topic of this thesis, which is the evolution of the non-interference principle in ASEAN, and why this code of conduct is fiercely defended and embraced by its members.