"The president again reminded us that we would be able to make ASEAN the epicenter of growth, if we are able to maintain the regional stability," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.

Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has called on ASEAN not to become anyone's proxy and stressed the importance of the regional stability, the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, said.

“ASEAN should not be anyone's proxy. The president emphasizes the importance of maintaining the ASEAN centralization and unity as ASEAN's main capital. And the president stressed the importance of respecting the democratic principles of international law and human rights as contained in the ASEAN Charter," Retno told journalists at the Presidential Office here, Friday.

“Today and tomorrow, the ASEAN foreign ministers are scheduled to hold a series of meetings starting this afternoon, namely a working lunch, discussing the Myanmar issue, followed by the ASEAN Coordinating Council, and tomorrow we will have a Retreat meeting (the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat),” the foreign minister said.

She said that this series of ASEAN foreign ministers' meetings was the first major meeting to be held under the chairmanship of Indonesia.

In addition, the president also emphasized that the Five-Point Consensus will remain ASEAN's main mechanism in addressing issues or developments in Myanmar, the minister quoted the president as saying.

ASEAN must also become the epicenter of growth in the midst of the current dismal world economic projections, the head of state said.

"The president again reminded us that we would be able to make ASEAN the epicenter of growth, if we are able to maintain the regional stability," he said.

Retno likewise said that at the meeting earlier, the ASEAN foreign ministers highly appreciated a number of directives conveyed by President Joko Widodo and they also emphasized their support for Indonesia's chairmanship of ASEAN.

"Several ASEAN foreign ministers then conveyed a number of things, including that on Laos which will be the next chair after Indonesia. The secretary general of ASEAN also spoke, followed by Singapore's foreign minister and Thailand's foreign minister. The whole point is the readiness of ASEAN member countries to support Indonesia's chairmanship," she concluded.

Reporting by Indonesia Window