"A lasting architecture of (peace) must be built based on strong and dynamic regionalism," he said in his speech at a dinner at the opening of the 11th Shangri La Dialog here on Friday.
He admitted establishing regionalism is complicated because it requires building a sense of belonging among governments and peoples of the region towards the region and readiness to jointly develop it. This would not only take diplomatic efforts but also involve economic, political and psychological phenomena.
The President said regionalism does not always run against nationalism but they are even inter-related. Every country must see regional identity as a complement of their national identities.
He said cooperation among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a form of efforts to achieve regionalism.
He said a closer ASEAN cooperation with strong commitment to building a common community has created strategic opportunities and have changed fundamentally relations among countries in Souteast Asia.
Before joining ASEAN, Vietnam, Cambodia Laos and Mynamar saw ASEAN suspiciously and had always kept a distance from it. But now they have become equal stakeholders in the ASEAN family to make the region more stable and peaceful.
Yudhoyono said the trend of regionalism kept developing in the world marked by various regional cooperation continued to be built.
In Asia for example various kinds of regional development cooperation has emerged built such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) and the East Asia Summit.
These kinds of regionalism , he said, are a future positive trend he said. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
