ON THE occasion of Asean Day, which falls today (August 8), His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam expressed his hope that as a community of Southeast Asian nations, the people would continue to see strong neighbourly relations, closer friendship and cooperation so that peace and prosperity is shared by all.

His Majesty pointed out that on January 7, 1984, Brunei Darussalam became a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), just a week after the country declared its independence.

At the end of 2013, Brunei concluded its first full chairm-anship year, as prescribed under the Asean Charter.

In the message, His Majesty said: “It was an honour and enriching experience which gave us a renewed appreciation for our membership.

“It underscored the importance of our community building work, and injected new momentum to honour all the commitments we made, which need to be implemented by the end of 2015.

“We support all that Myanmar is doing as the Asean Chairman for 2014, under the theme,‘Moving Forward in Unity to a Peaceful and Prosperous community’.

“It made clear that our work together must cover the needs of the region, and be meaningful to our people.

“We recognised that we should do more to nurture an ‘Asean mindset’ and develop a sense of regional belonging in our peoples.

“Foremost in our thoughts now is the future beyond 2015.

“We are beginning to make plans that will help our Asean Community thrive. The process will be an inclusive one that incorporates the aspirations of our people, while working together with our dialogue partners.”

In concluding the message, His Majesty wished all Asean friends and partners a very happy Asean Day. - Borneo Bulletin (8 August 2014)