Strengthening asean community

Collaborate for Borderless and Advanced Southeast Asia

UCLG ASPAC with ASEAN Secretariat and other partners at the ASEAN meeting recently held in Jakarta.

BORDERLESS community is not a new aspiration. Southeast Asia has long seen this as a golden opportunity to fast forward every process of valuable exchanges to bring advanced welfare for people and the countries. UCLG ASPAC has seen tremendous efforts conducted by ASEAN, the largest institution in the region, in setting up the master plan for pursuing the connectivity. This article highlights how the region can benefit from what seems to be the practice of adapting global demand to a more ‘local’ (regional) context and how UCLG ASPAC facilitates cities and local governments to assist their national governments to get to the aspired level.

For Southeast Asia, borderless community will bring to the table various benefits and advantages. Limitless connection will definitely accelerate the process of meeting demands. Efficiency and effectiveness will surely drive every step to ensure optimum result of the efforts taken. Knowledge and information sharing will also be much faster which opens many more ways to

accelerate targeted development starting from local level. Common shared values rooted in every community member will, too, strengthen the identity and form solidarity that positively contributes to accommodate the needs from different parts of the region. In short, the region, particularly its member states, and to be more specific the local governments will be in enabling environment context to catch up with development as the currently existing boundaries has faded.

In pursuance of the said concept, ASEAN explicitly mentioned in its master plan that strengthening connection of people-to-people, institutional, and physical is the key foundation. People-to-people connectivity refers to the growing of deeper understanding among people within Southeast Asia region.

It creates bridge for smooth mobilization and providing groundwork for other pillars. Moving up to the next level, institutional connectivity is required for good arrangement of efficient and effective coordination that optimizes the exchange process. Lastly, physical connectivity is also built for facilitating the exchange of goods, services, knowledge as well as people in an integrated way within the region.

UCLG ASPAC has committed to unceasingly support development. As a local government association, UCLG ASPAC has prepared a platform that facilitates its members, particularly local governments in Southeast Asia, to move towards a more strengthened community, in the ASEAN Mayors Forum (AMF) 2017. AMF is a regional platform dedicated to the formation of solid Southeast Asia local governments and community’s engagement heading to borderless regional connectivity. For its success, UCLG ASPAC has formulated a comprehensive agenda of AMF 2017 that stimulates deeper knowledge sharing, formation of fruitful partnerships, and implementation of smart practices in various fields; included are women empowerment, youth, and local economic development.

The event is scheduled to take place from 26-28 July 2017 in the city of Taguig, Metro Manila, the Philippines, the current chairmanship of ASEAN. UCLG ASPAC invites local governments in Southeast Asia as well as partners with shared vision to secure their seats. Registration is now open and you can always write to us to get more information and related updates: amf2017@uclg-aspac.org.