ASEAN’s Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan. Photo: Reuters

ASEAN’s Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan has called on all member countries to encourage closer links in fields other than politics and economics, such as sports, drugs issues, the environment, education, labour, the arts, culture and response to natural disasters.

He made the request at a briefing on the recent 20th ASEAN Summit, in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 9.

During the 20^th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on April 3-4, sports, drugs issues, the environment, education, the arts, culture and labour were all discussed to ensure that ASEAN builds a community fit for its people to live in, said Pitsuwan.

He urged the leaders of each member country to quickly implement the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) plans to accelerate economic growth and close the economic gap between member countries.