Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has urged Southeast Asian countries to forge closer ties so that regional stability will be ensured, news reports said Sunday. Abdullah said the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, should create a regional benchmark of values on matters such as human rights, good governance and law enforcement so that it could become more integrated, similar to the European Union. "It is important to take ASEAN back to where it really belongs," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star newspaper. "To be truly cohesive, the ASEAN community of the future must be founded on a set of common values, perception and outlook." Abdullah, who was speaking at a conference Saturday on how ASEAN should develop itself, added that regional cooperation in security matters was particularly important to fight international terrorism and other threats. ASEAN groups together Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Malaysia is slated to take over the chairmanship of ASEAN next year.
