ASEAN former Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan (Source: VNA)Bangkok (VNA) – Former Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Surin Pitsuwan has called on the bloc’s member nations to jointly develop a regional development fund to address its lack of infrastructural development.
At the recent “ASEAN@50: In Retrospect” forum in Bangkok, he said the region must stop relying on aid from outside countries, and warned disputes seen in the so called Brexit when the UK left the European Union.
He suggested ASEAN set aside 100 billion USD for infrastructural development, to be managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The fund would be dispersed to nations that need it the most and promote independence for the region, he said.
The region requires at least 2 trillion USD to solve its infrastructural problems, he commented.-VNA
VNA
