Delegates to the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with the US. (Photo: laprensalatina.com) “We share a vision of an Indo-Pacific that is free, open,prosperous, secure, connected, and resilient,” Blinken told the ASEAN PostMinisterial Conference with the US within the framework of the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-56) in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 14.
The US has worked so hard to put the ASEAN-US ComprehensiveStrategic Partnership, which was upgraded last year, into concrete action.
“We are delivering on the issues that matter most to thelives of our people: expanding access tothe Internet and other technologies that small businesses and entrepreneursneed to compete in the 21st century economy; helping communities adapt to thegrowing effects of a warming climate, and building their resilience to thechanges to come; improving the capacity of health systems to deliver on basicneeds like maternal and child health,” he stated.
Regarding the Myanmar issue, the official stressed the need to implement ASEAN’s Five-PointConsensus, adding that on July 13, the US announced over 74 million USD inadditional humanitarian relief to the region, including nearly 61 million USD tosupport Rohingya displaced by ongoing violence in Myanmar.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed herbelief that the conference will lead to new commitments to strengthencooperation in more concrete ways between the two sides, thus contributing topeace and stability in the region.
She proposed the US maintain its support for ASEAN'scentrality and “Epicentrum of Growth” status.
This year, ASEAN starts to integrate the implementation ofthe ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) with all partners, including theUS. The goal of AOIP is to promote concrete cooperation and bring about benefitsfor people in four priority areas of maritime affairs, connectivity,sustainable development goals, and economic affairs, she added./.
VNA
