The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and New Zealand have decided to up the ASEAN-New Zealand Joint Management Committee (JMC) to a Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) and revise the Terms of Reference (TOR).

The decision was made at the 13th JMC meeting on May 30 in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta and co-chaired by Ambassador Dato Hazhudin Hamzah, Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to ASEAN and David Taylor, New Zealand’s Ambassador to ASEAN.

The event took place at an opportune time, after the adoption of the Plan of Action to Implement the Joint Declaration for the ASEAN-New Zealand Comprehensive Partnership during 2010-2015.

Ambassador Hamzah said the meeting discussed common issues that concern both the region and the world, contents for the next meetings and reviewed the implementation of four leading projects that are part of the plan of action to implement the Joint Declaration.

The next meeting of the ASEAN-New Zealand JCC will convene in early 2013 and be co-chaired by Laos chief representative, as the incoming Country Coordinator for ASEAN-New Zealand Relations and the New Zealand Ambassador to ASEAN.-VNA