Late last month, Asean ministers for culture and arts met in Bandar Seri Begawan to adopt a 10-year strategic plan to project a stronger Asean identity.

This development marks a significant milestone in the long journey towards building an Asean Community — an entity that we have only just begun to establish after almost five decades since the grouping was formed.

The adoption of a strategic plan to promote Asean culture is central to forging a sense of regional identity among its vastly diverse population — a mammoth challenge by any measure.

Nevertheless, the task is an urgent priority in the light of the global shift towards Asia as the powerhouse of economic growth in this century.

With about 625 million people, Asean has the third-largest workforce in the world, after China and India. Moreover, it is slated to become the fourth largest economy globally by 2050.

To leverage this growth momentum, the people of Asean must learn to combine their strengths to draw the full benefit of investment flows into the region. This wealth, if channelled correctly, can improve the quality of life of its people by stimulating human development in all its member states, but especially those that are lagging at the bottom of the table.

This is where the bond that can be created through culture and arts would play a prominent role in establishing an Asean identity.

Given the stark differences among Asean members in their cultural, linguistic, religious, economic, geographic and political aspects, it may seem like a rather long shot for the grouping to aspire for a unifying identity.

Moreover, it requires a stretch of the imagination to translate the conceptual language of the guiding document that was adopted in August into impactful programmes that bear tangible results.

To get a flavour of the scale of the undertaking that the document’s drafters have set the Asean Community, it is useful to note the key strategies described in the plan. They include:

• Encouraging a multi-stakeholder approach in promoting an Asean mindset and identity;

• Promoting the cultural diversity of Asean;

• Advancing the cultural rights of the people of Asean;

• Harnessing the contribution of the creative industries towards innovations, generating livelihoods and supporting economic development;

• Engaging with and facilitating discussion among policy-makers, professionals, practitioners and institutions concerned with the culture and arts; and

• Promoting the role of culture for Asean to become a proactive member of the global community.

To be fair, it would have been difficult for the drafters of the strategic plan to break away from the motherhood-type statements that help to frame the scope of this transformative undertaking.

So it is helpful to temper any expectations of quick results with the realisation that an implanted concept of an Asean identity would, as nature dictates, tend to be slow to take root among its culturally disparate peoples.

Nevertheless, the foundations of this project can be built on concrete activities that are designed to capture the imagination and quicken the pulse of the Asean masses, particularly its youth.

For inspiration, there is the example of the Eurovision song contest. The longest-running annual international TV song competition, which is in its 60th year, was started as a means of drawing together the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union as Europe sought to rebuild itself following the Second World War.

Interestingly, the idea of an Asean song contest in the style of the Eurovision event has been mooted, The Straits Times reported last September. However, no further details have been reported since then.

Conceivably, the idea of a region-wide entertainment event to attract television audiences in all 10 Asean member countries holds enough revenue potential to interest the media and related industries. In this age of top-billing TV talent shows, the concept should be able to attract the best artistic, technical and entrepreneurial skills in the region into a collaborative arrangement to make such an event highly visible, besides being profitable.

If the region’s governments give serious impetus to their enabling role in allowing such cross-border entertainment programmes to thrive, the political community stands to reap a rich dividend through the spontaneous emergence of an Asean spirit nurtured through the arts.

Besides mass appeal events such as talent shows, there are a great many niche activities in the cultural field that would yield positive results for the creation of an Asean identity.

Even today, dedicated groups are helping to keep dying art forms and other cultural heritage of traditional communities in Southeast Asia alive by marketing their artifacts and hosting exhibitions.

Many of these support groups are constrained by resource limitations and the heritage that they are seeking to sustain has a precarious existence. Asean governments can make a big difference to these efforts by engaging in a systematic effort to support research, collaboration and dissemination of these cultural goods to a wider audience.

As the people of Asean become more exposed to the vast variety of cultures in the region, these efforts will surely go a long way towards raising a sense of regional identity and cultural affinity with the various communities in their midst.

Another key element in the promotion of an Asean identity is the role of tourism in raising the people’s awareness about the diversity and richness of the region’s culture. It is evident that increased tourism within the region will enhance travellers’ appreciation of the architecture, cultural attractions, handicrafts, textiles and cuisine of neighbouring countries.

While the Asean Strategic Plan for Culture and Arts 2016-2025 creates the framework for forging a regional identity, its effects will be much enhanced if it can be implemented in partnership with industry, such as entertainment and travel businesses, which are animated by an entrepreneurial zeal.

The region’s cultural heritage needs a paying audience to build up the Asean spirit.

R B Bhattacharjee is associate editor at The Edge Malaysia

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.