Myanmar’s Year as ASEAN Chair Comes to a Close

                  Myanmar President Thien Sien

Myanmar’s year as ASEAN chair for 2014 ended on November 13th when the gavel was handed to Malaysia who will be ASEAN’s 2015 chair. The transfer took place at a ceremony at the close of the 25th ASEAN  Summit in Naypyidaw, Myanmar. So how did Myanmar handle the job in 2014? Most observers seem to agree that they did it pretty well.

The 2014 theme was “Moving Forward In Unity to a Peaceful and Prosperous Community.” Myanmar faced a lot of challenges as it began its year. Internationally, Myanmar had to balance its relations with China with its obligations to ASEAN. Members Vietnam and The Philippines had ongoing disputes with China regarding the South China Sea. Domestically, the recently-emerging Myanmar, led by Thien Sien, had to deal with its problems relating to minorities, specifically the Rohingya and Rakhine peoples. Also, domestically, the country was forced to deal with hosting 21st century events and meetings with antiquated infrastructure.

Myanmar chaired the organization in the year leading up to the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. Malaysia is expected to move the agenda forward, but some observers speculate that implementation of the AEC, featuring a single market and production base, by the end of 2015 is ambitious at best.

 For Myanmar, its term as ASEAN chair can be seen as a further example of its reform and opening to the world. Focus will now be shifted to elections scheduled for autumn 2015. This year will probably see Myanmar occupied with its internal development and human rights issues, so there will probably be no major developments on the foreign policy front either regionally or internationally. For its 2014 ASEAN chair, it looks like Myanmar got a B+, and that’s pretty good.

http://asiafoundation.org/in-asia/2014/01/08/asean-chairmanship-offers-opportunity-for-myanmar/ 

http://www.stimson.org/images/uploads/myanmar_issue_brief_4_final_web.pdf