In his three-day state visit to Singapore, Brunei Sultan HassanalBolkiah on April 22 made an opening speech at the 34th SingaporeLecture on “The Future of ASEAN”, pointing out the challenges theregional bloc will have to confront as well as the ways for it toovercome.
He said that in the decades to come, Southeast Asia will have to face more challenges and difficulties than now.
The changes in the economic and political balance towards Asia andthe emergence of major and medium powers in the region are creatingchanges in the relations among the countries and impacting the strategiccontext of the region, he said.
The leader said itis a challenge for ASEAN to find its position in the new context, andexpressed his concerns on a host of issues, including the ongoingdisputes on territory and waters in the region.
Itis important that those problems must be solved through dialogues andpeace initiatives, he said, urging ASEAN to consolidate intra-bloccooperation and coordination as this will help it and partners deal withthe current regional challenges.-VNA