KUALA LUMPUR: Former Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan claims the leaders of some Asean countries are avoiding the need for reforms by hiding behind their people.

“They believe the community will protect them from having to reform and that the community will absorb pressures from the outside. I think they’re wrong,” he said in his keynote address at the 2017 Asean Integrity Dialogue at the Integrity Institute of Malaysia here today.

He said the reason for this was that their people would soon see thriving economies and developments in neighbouring countries that chose reforms.

“In the end, their own people will ask why they can’t benefit from the Asean community like their neighbours do and, inevitably, the answer will be because you haven’t reformed so you don’t measure up and you don’t draw as much direct foreign investments.”

He said Asean attracted foreign direct investments valued at US$150 billion (RM637.5 billion) each year.

“And (foreign investors are) always reluctant and cautious about which economy (they) will go into first.”

Surin, who is a former foreign minister of Thailand, said currently all Asean countries needed reform.

“We are not doing very well with the exception of Singapore. In fact, we are competing to see who is better and who is not doing well.

“Soon, some people will ask why smaller countries than ours are getting that money and the answer will simply be because they (foreign investors) don’t trust you and they’re not sure whether you can protect that wealth.”

Surin said almost all Asean members had problems with good governance and this made them dependent on outsiders for their developmental growth.

“All elements which have led to our growth have been foreign.

“It’s like we have a strong modem here that is plugged into the technology out there, and in return we provide cheap labour and abundant resources.”

Surin said good governance was a question of having integrity.

“In order to have integrity you must first have self-respect; in order to have self-respect you have to have self-confidence which is something that is lacking in many Asean countries.

“Integrity is not something you can take a dose of from other countries. It has to be invented, transformed and established from the inside,” he said, adding that the best way to make this lasting and sustainable was to start with the younger generation.

“You must leave space for the younger generation to prove themselves, that’s how you achieve excellence.”