DUBAI // Community leaders, businessmen and diplomats from five countries in the Association of South-East Asian Nations region met in Dubai on 21.08.2016.
The meeting was part of plans for further cooperation before the group’s 50-year celebrations next year.
The gathering of expatriates from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand was the first in Dubai for consuls, industry leaders and citizens of Asean countries.
“This is our first public diplomacy programme and we need interaction as a prerequisite to build our community,” said Yubazlan Yusof, the consul general of Malaysia.
“If Asean wants to succeed, we must make sure to link people together, such as the civil society and the NGOs.”
Last year, Asean countries established the Asean Economic Community.
The group seeks to create a globally competitive single market, with a free flow of goods, services, labour, investments and capital across the 10 member states.
The region has a collective population of 622 million.
Filipinos make up the biggest group of Asean expatriates in the UAE, with more than 700,000.
Presently, there are about 1 million people from the Asean region who work and live in this country.
