KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 – Tomorrow’s Leaders Summit was invited to attend the Distinguished Lecture by H.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of ASEAN.  Organised by the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMM) at the Royale Chulan Hotel, the lecture was entitled “Raising the ASEAN Value through the Concept of Global Movement of Moderates”

Dr. Surin explained the politics, the economic and culture of the ASEAN people, and expounded moderation from a historical perceptive.  Moderation has been the dominate philosophy which has served Malaysia and other ASEAN nations well.  This “new” leadership model has now become a model for developing and developed countries alike. Defining “Centrality” as ASEAN’s position, which is in line with the concept of Moderation, as defined by GMM.

“GMM is that vehicle for us to go onwards. GMM is a substance that can go to the Middle East, Afghanistan, to any extreme and violent regions in the world and show them the fact that we have travelled so far…but now, we managed to be out of poverty, from ravages of war after the World War II, colonialism and struggle into a community of respectable nations” stated Dr. Surin.

“We say, wait a minute, we are not perfect, there are things that we need to improve. You can come, not only learning from our success but be open to the things that we have done wrong,” Stated Dr. Surin when explaining the approach to sharing with other nations.

Dr. Surin praised the leadership of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, and his decision not succumb to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the global economic crisis in 1997, which first manifested in ASEAN, saying the action was “well paid off.”

Today, ASEAN has a combined population of over 600 Million people, in the current global economic environment is seen as a high growth area with a regional GDP growth rate of 3.7% and a combined value of USD 2.1 Trillion.  Multilaterally, ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) The ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Area (ACIA) and has concluded FTA’s with China, India, Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand.

The Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) was first mooted by YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia at the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, calling for members and leaders of the world’s major faiths to censure and reject their own extremists.  “The Global Movement of Moderates like the 1 Malaysia Policy has become key components of the Prime Ministers leadership and his approach to sustainable development.  It is a breath of fresh air and is testimony to his vision for the country, its’ people and their place in the global village.” stated Nordin Abdullah, Organising Chairman of Tomorrow’s Leaders Summit, after attending the lecture.

The question and answer session was joined by Tan Sri Razali Ismail, Chairman of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation and moderated by the Foundation’s CEO En. Khalek Awang.

 

Nordin Abdullah is the Organising Chairman of Tomorrow’s Leaders Summit, for more information about him, visit  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordin_Abdullah