ASIA-MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE (Benefits)

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ASIA-MIDDLE EAST DIALOGUE:

(Benefits): 7.

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs (a)

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how does the Senior Minister propose to proceed with the vision of a dialogue between South-East Asia and the Middle-East; (b) what major benefits can Singapore, by itself and as a member of ASEAN, achieve from this dialogue; and (c) whether the dialogue will help to enhance security in the South-East Asian region and worldwide.

The Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat) (for the Minister for Foreign Affairs): Singapore will be hosting the inaugural Asia-Middle East Dialogue (or AMED) in June 2005. We will bring together officials, academics, religious leaders and other opinion makers from some 50 countries in the Middle East and Asia over a two-day period. The aim is to forge closer political, security, economic and socio-cultural relations between peoples of the two regions.

We have established a Steering Committee to help prepare for the inaugural AMED. The Steering Committee is comprised of senior officials from eight countries - Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait from the Middle East; and Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore from Asia. These countries were selected to provide a diversity of views representative of large and small states and different sub-regions within the broader regions of Middle East and Asia.

The Steering Committee held its first meeting in Singapore from 11th-12th October and made a few key decisions. For instance, the theme for the inaugural AMED would be "Asia-Middle East Dialogue: Common Interests and Common Challenges". Based on this theme, we will select appropriate topics covering politics, economics and socio-cultural issues. The Steering Committee will meet again in Jordan sometime in the first quarter of next year to work out the other details.

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The Member also asked what are the benefits of AMED. The benefits are manifold. The Middle East is a region rich in heritage and with tremendous growth potential. When SM travelled to the region, he was struck by the economic developments and different aspirations of countries in the Middle East and found mainstream society to be diverse, open and inclusive. AMED will provide a platform to show these changes taking place in the Middle East to Asia and the rest of the world, as well as provide the framework for Asia and the Middle East to interact more intensively. It is useful to note that Egypt has offered to host the second AMED in 2006 and Bahrain has indicated its interest to be a future host. This demonstrates the strong level of interest in AMED. AMED will be a long-term process and not a one-off meeting.

Stronger inter-regional linkages will also yield economic opportunities for Singapore and the rest of Asia. Besides the oil industry, many Middle Eastern countries are liberalising and diversifying their economies as well as looking East for investment and trading opportunities.

The Member also asked how this would enhance security. The Middle East is undergoing fundamental changes in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres. All these developments have an impact on Southeast Asia. For example, the threat presented by global terrorism stems from a militant, extremist ideology that uses religion to foment divisions between and within societies. To help counter this threat, the Asia-Middle East Dialogue seeks to provide a platform for moderate Muslim countries to speak up and challenge the extremist strain of Islam.

Mr Ahmad Khalis Bin Abdul Ghani (Hong Kah): Sir, looking at the progress made, either specifically in the Steering Committee of the coming June 2005 conference or in general, how does the

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Minister assess the acceptance rate among Southeast Asian countries of AMED?

Mr Raymond Lim Siang Keat: The response from the Southeast Asian countries has been very positive. All the ASEAN member states will be invited to send representatives. It is important to stress that this is not a government-to-government platform but a people-to-people platform. And so academics, scholars, opinion makers from these countries will be invited.