A RETIRED government official has said that people in Myanmar should learn more about the work of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the regional grouping, of which Myanmar is a member, moves closer to integration.

“This year is the 40th anniversary of the founding of ASEAN and also the 10th anniversary of Myanmar’s membership in the association,” said U Maung Maung Yi, a retired director general from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration under the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development.

He said that as a government official he had participated in efforts to establish an ASEAN free trade zone but few citizens in Myanmar knew anything about the association, including its plans to establish an EU-like community in the region by 2015.

He said that after 10 years of membership, it was time for Myanmar to look back and reflect on its participation in ASEAN as well as look forward to the future.

“ASEAN and Myanmar cannot be separated from each other. When we say ASEAN it also includes Myanmar, so by knowing more about ASEAN, people in Myanmar will also know more about their own country,” said U Maung Maung Yi.

He suggested that information about ASEAN should be added to higher-level school curricula and that more effort should be made to inform the public about the regional grouping’s work and future plans.

“At a high-level ASEAN meeting in Bali, Indonesia, in 2003 there were also suggestions that members develop outreach programs to send messages about ASEAN activities to local communities,” he said.

“Right now our efforts to educate our citizens about ASEAN are not as effective as they could be. Whenever seminars are held in Myanmar on ASEAN information and business they are attended by only a handful of people from the government and some institutes,” U Maung Maung Yi said.

“Raising interest in learning about ASEAN should be done as an ongoing, routine project,” he said.