ASEAN has made a strategic decision to strengthen the organisation politically. It is finalising a Charter that will lay out a bold and visionary future for ASEAN. This will provide an institutional framework for the grouping and transform it into a more effective and efficient rules-based organisation. The Charter will be signed at the Singapore Summit in November. Asia is evolving its architecture for regional cooperation. Today, there are already several overlapping fora and groupings: the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and Shangri-La Dialogue which discuss sensitive security and defence issues, the ASEAN + 3 framework and the recently formed East Asia Summit (EAS). Countries in Asia understand that they must work together to strengthen regional cooperation. These structures complement one another and help to deepen regional integration and build an East Asian community. Building relationships with other regions While the final shape of the regional architecture will not be decided for some time to come, what is clear is that it will be an inclusive and forward-looking one. This was clearly demonstrated in the way participants in the EAS were determined. Instead of going by narrow and outmoded geographical and ethnic notions, the leaders in Asia wisely decided to adopt a forward-looking, inclusive and open definition. Asia will therefore continue to remain open in engaging external players on the understanding that in today’s context, what defines a “region” are ties, connections and interdependency, rather than physical boundaries and ethnicity. The US will continue to play a vital role in Asia’s stability and prosperity.
To help you better understand the various methods, we will have a brief demonstration to illustrate these methods towards the end of the press conference. A series of promotional activities will be launched by the banking industry and individual banks from June 2005 onward to help customers to fully understand this security measure. Mr He will highlight the key features of the consumer education programme to you. Two-factor authentication strengthens the security controls of Internet banking and protects bank customers from Internet banking frauds. We are confident that with the joint efforts of the banking sector, bank customers, the Police and the HKMA, Internet banking will continue to flourish under a safe and sound environment in Hong Kong. BIS Review 44/2005  1