A series of post ministerial conferences between the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its 10 dialogue partners took placein Hanoi on July 22.
The dialogue partnersinclude China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia, NewZealand, Russia, the EU, the US and Canada.
Atthese meetings, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and their counterpartsreviewed relationships in the past year and set forth ways and means topromote future cooperation.
The main agendas ofthe meetings included strengthening effective, substantive andcomprehensive cooperation between ASEAN and its dialogue partners, fromassistance to ASEAN in realising its community-building goal andpromoting connectivity to addressing the emerging challenges such asclimate change, natural disasters, epidemics and maritime security.
The meetings also discussed preparations for the important relatedsummits to be held at the end of this year and exchanged views onstrengthening regional cooperation, including the possibility of widerparticipation and deeper engagement of dialogue partners in the processof shaping the regional architecture.
The dialoguepartners reaffirmed their support for ASEAN’s central role in theregion and shared the bloc’s common vision of a future regionalarchitecture that will be multi-level, mutually-supportive, and beingbuilt upon existing mechanisms.
ASEAN welcomedRussia and the US ’s expressed interest in engaging deeper with theevolving regional architecture, including the participation in the EastAsia Summit (EAS) as members with appropriate arrangement and timing.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with China , the twosides agreed to hasten the drafting of a new Plan of Action to implementthe Joint Declaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peaceand Prosperity for the 2011-2015 period to be submitted to the 13 thASEAN-China Summit for adoption.
The two sideswill realise the initiatives for bilateral cooperation, includinginfrastructure, energy and ICT as well as the use of China-assistedfunds namely the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund worth 10billion USD and the Credit Fund for Commercial Exchange of 15 billionUSD.
They will continue enhancing cooperation forpeace, stability and prosperity in the region, including cooperationwithin the framework of ASEAN+3, EAS, ARF and in implementing theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).
They also agreed to recommend the commemoration of the 20 thanniversary of the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations throughout the year of2011.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferencewith Russia , the ministers welcomed good progress in implementingthe ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Programme of Action to promotecooperation for 2005-2015.
They discussedpreparations for the 2 nd ASEAN-Russia Summit that will be held laterthis year, including recommendation for a draft statement, convening ofthe Russia-ASEAN Business Forum and the ASEAN-Russia CulturalCooperation Agreement.
They also discussed andagreed on specific activities in preparation for the commemoration ofthe 15 th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Relations, including theholding of Days of Russian Culture in ASEAN member countries.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with the US, to furtherimplement the decisions of the first ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting in 2009and prepare for the second meeting in 2010, the two sides agreed tofinalise a Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-US Partnership for thenew period of 2011-2015 and strengthen cooperation in areas of mutualinterest, particularly economic, trade and investment cooperation,science and technology, education as well as in addressing emergingchallenges like epidemics, energy security, disaster management andclimate change
ASEAN welcomed the establishment of a US Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta .
ASEAN and the US agreed to work closely toward the convening ofthe 2 nd ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting to be held later in the year.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Japan , ASEAN welcomedJapan ’s proposal to further promote the cooperation between ASEAN andJapan toward economic growth through enhancing ASEAN connectivitywithin the framework of “ASEAN-Japan Partnership for New Growth in Asia”.
Japan reaffirmed its continued support to ASEAN Communitybuilding efforts, including narrowing development gap throughcontribution to the ASEAN-Japan Integration Fund and offered to provide800 million JPY assisting the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEANConnectivity.
ASEAN and Japan committed for the earlyentry into force and effective implementation of the ASEAN-JapanComprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP).
At the ASEAN PostMinisterial Meeting with the Republic of Korea (RoK), theministers agreed to work closely for the effective implementation ofASEAN-RoK FTA agreement with a view to increasing two-way trade volumeto 150 billion USD by 2015.
ASEAN and the RoKagreed to submit the proposal to elevate the ASEAN-RoK DialogueRelations to Strategic Partnership, and a draft Joint Declaration onASEAN-RoK Strategic Partnership to the Leaders at the forthcomingASEAN-RoK Summit in Hanoi later this year.
ASEAN expressedits appreciation to the RoK for inviting Vietnam , as the Chair ofASEAN, to attend the G-20 Summit in Seoul this November. On thisoccasion, ASEAN extended deep sympathy and condolences to the Governmentand people of the RoK for the loss of lives resulting from the sinkingof the Cheonan ship and called on all parties concerned to exerciseutmost self-restraint and resolve all differences by peaceful means.
Atthe ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with India , the two sidesadopted the Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-India Partnership forPeace, Progress and Prosperity for 2010-2015 and agreed to strengthencooperation in trade-economics, science and technology, ICT andenvironment as well as in response to challenges like terrorism,transnational crimes.
The ministers tasked their officials toinitiate projects to be sponsored under the ASEAN-India Green Fund andthe ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund.
The two sides discussed preparations for the 20 th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India Dialogue Relationship in 2012.
At ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Australia , t he twosides emphasised the significance and importance of effectivelyimplementing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA) which enteredinto force early this year.
They agreed to accelerate theimplementation of the Plan of Action to realise the ASEAN-AustraliaEnhanced Partnership with focus on areas of education, trade andinvestment, transport, sustainable use of resources, disastermanagement, culture and people-to-people exchange.
ASEAN and Australia agreed to convene an ASEAN-Australia Summit onthe sideline of the 17th ASEAN Summit in the second half of 2010 to givestrong impetus to the dialogue relations.
Atthe ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with New Zealand, the ministersadopted the ASEAN-New Zealand Joint Declaration on Enhanced Partnershipfor 2010-2015, focusing on cooperation in education, culture andpeople-to-people exchange.
ASEAN welcomed NewZealand’s new proposals for cooperation, including a 54 million USDsupport for ASEAN students to be trained in New Zealand in the next 3years.
The two sides appreciated the significance and importance of effectively carrying out the AANZFTA.
They also agreed to convene the ASEAN-New Zealand CommemorativeSummit back-to-back with the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Canada, t he ministersadopted the Plan of Action to implement the Declaration on ASEAN-CanadaEnhanced Partnership for 2011-2015 and agreed to work toward anASEAN-Canada Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to enhancetrade and investment relations.
ASEAN welcomedCanada ’s signing of the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amityand Cooperation (TAC), which marks another significant progress in thedialogue relationship as well as Canada ’s commitment to peace,stability and cooperation in the region.
At the ASEAN PostMinisterial Conference with the EU, the two sides agreed to promote theimplementation of programmes and activities to realise the ASEAN-EUEnhanced Partnership, especially boosting region-to-region economiccooperation.
ASEAN appreciated the EU’s determination toaccede to the TAC in Southeast Asia and informed the EU of the signingof the 3 rd Protocol amending the TAC to be held on July 23 whichwould pave the way for the EU’s accession to the TAC at an early stage./.
The dialogue partnersinclude China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia, NewZealand, Russia, the EU, the US and Canada.
Atthese meetings, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and their counterpartsreviewed relationships in the past year and set forth ways and means topromote future cooperation.
The main agendas ofthe meetings included strengthening effective, substantive andcomprehensive cooperation between ASEAN and its dialogue partners, fromassistance to ASEAN in realising its community-building goal andpromoting connectivity to addressing the emerging challenges such asclimate change, natural disasters, epidemics and maritime security.
The meetings also discussed preparations for the important relatedsummits to be held at the end of this year and exchanged views onstrengthening regional cooperation, including the possibility of widerparticipation and deeper engagement of dialogue partners in the processof shaping the regional architecture.
The dialoguepartners reaffirmed their support for ASEAN’s central role in theregion and shared the bloc’s common vision of a future regionalarchitecture that will be multi-level, mutually-supportive, and beingbuilt upon existing mechanisms.
ASEAN welcomedRussia and the US ’s expressed interest in engaging deeper with theevolving regional architecture, including the participation in the EastAsia Summit (EAS) as members with appropriate arrangement and timing.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with China , the twosides agreed to hasten the drafting of a new Plan of Action to implementthe Joint Declaration on ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peaceand Prosperity for the 2011-2015 period to be submitted to the 13 thASEAN-China Summit for adoption.
The two sideswill realise the initiatives for bilateral cooperation, includinginfrastructure, energy and ICT as well as the use of China-assistedfunds namely the China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund worth 10billion USD and the Credit Fund for Commercial Exchange of 15 billionUSD.
They will continue enhancing cooperation forpeace, stability and prosperity in the region, including cooperationwithin the framework of ASEAN+3, EAS, ARF and in implementing theDeclaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).
They also agreed to recommend the commemoration of the 20 thanniversary of the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations throughout the year of2011.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferencewith Russia , the ministers welcomed good progress in implementingthe ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Programme of Action to promotecooperation for 2005-2015.
They discussedpreparations for the 2 nd ASEAN-Russia Summit that will be held laterthis year, including recommendation for a draft statement, convening ofthe Russia-ASEAN Business Forum and the ASEAN-Russia CulturalCooperation Agreement.
They also discussed andagreed on specific activities in preparation for the commemoration ofthe 15 th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Relations, including theholding of Days of Russian Culture in ASEAN member countries.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with the US, to furtherimplement the decisions of the first ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting in 2009and prepare for the second meeting in 2010, the two sides agreed tofinalise a Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-US Partnership for thenew period of 2011-2015 and strengthen cooperation in areas of mutualinterest, particularly economic, trade and investment cooperation,science and technology, education as well as in addressing emergingchallenges like epidemics, energy security, disaster management andclimate change
ASEAN welcomed the establishment of a US Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta .
ASEAN and the US agreed to work closely toward the convening ofthe 2 nd ASEAN-US Leaders’ Meeting to be held later in the year.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Japan , ASEAN welcomedJapan ’s proposal to further promote the cooperation between ASEAN andJapan toward economic growth through enhancing ASEAN connectivitywithin the framework of “ASEAN-Japan Partnership for New Growth in Asia”.
Japan reaffirmed its continued support to ASEAN Communitybuilding efforts, including narrowing development gap throughcontribution to the ASEAN-Japan Integration Fund and offered to provide800 million JPY assisting the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEANConnectivity.
ASEAN and Japan committed for the earlyentry into force and effective implementation of the ASEAN-JapanComprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP).
At the ASEAN PostMinisterial Meeting with the Republic of Korea (RoK), theministers agreed to work closely for the effective implementation ofASEAN-RoK FTA agreement with a view to increasing two-way trade volumeto 150 billion USD by 2015.
ASEAN and the RoKagreed to submit the proposal to elevate the ASEAN-RoK DialogueRelations to Strategic Partnership, and a draft Joint Declaration onASEAN-RoK Strategic Partnership to the Leaders at the forthcomingASEAN-RoK Summit in Hanoi later this year.
ASEAN expressedits appreciation to the RoK for inviting Vietnam , as the Chair ofASEAN, to attend the G-20 Summit in Seoul this November. On thisoccasion, ASEAN extended deep sympathy and condolences to the Governmentand people of the RoK for the loss of lives resulting from the sinkingof the Cheonan ship and called on all parties concerned to exerciseutmost self-restraint and resolve all differences by peaceful means.
Atthe ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with India , the two sidesadopted the Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-India Partnership forPeace, Progress and Prosperity for 2010-2015 and agreed to strengthencooperation in trade-economics, science and technology, ICT andenvironment as well as in response to challenges like terrorism,transnational crimes.
The ministers tasked their officials toinitiate projects to be sponsored under the ASEAN-India Green Fund andthe ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund.
The two sides discussed preparations for the 20 th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India Dialogue Relationship in 2012.
At ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Australia , t he twosides emphasised the significance and importance of effectivelyimplementing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA) which enteredinto force early this year.
They agreed to accelerate theimplementation of the Plan of Action to realise the ASEAN-AustraliaEnhanced Partnership with focus on areas of education, trade andinvestment, transport, sustainable use of resources, disastermanagement, culture and people-to-people exchange.
ASEAN and Australia agreed to convene an ASEAN-Australia Summit onthe sideline of the 17th ASEAN Summit in the second half of 2010 to givestrong impetus to the dialogue relations.
Atthe ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with New Zealand, the ministersadopted the ASEAN-New Zealand Joint Declaration on Enhanced Partnershipfor 2010-2015, focusing on cooperation in education, culture andpeople-to-people exchange.
ASEAN welcomed NewZealand’s new proposals for cooperation, including a 54 million USDsupport for ASEAN students to be trained in New Zealand in the next 3years.
The two sides appreciated the significance and importance of effectively carrying out the AANZFTA.
They also agreed to convene the ASEAN-New Zealand CommemorativeSummit back-to-back with the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi.
At the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference with Canada, t he ministersadopted the Plan of Action to implement the Declaration on ASEAN-CanadaEnhanced Partnership for 2011-2015 and agreed to work toward anASEAN-Canada Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) to enhancetrade and investment relations.
ASEAN welcomedCanada ’s signing of the Instrument of Accession to the Treaty of Amityand Cooperation (TAC), which marks another significant progress in thedialogue relationship as well as Canada ’s commitment to peace,stability and cooperation in the region.
At the ASEAN PostMinisterial Conference with the EU, the two sides agreed to promote theimplementation of programmes and activities to realise the ASEAN-EUEnhanced Partnership, especially boosting region-to-region economiccooperation.
ASEAN appreciated the EU’s determination toaccede to the TAC in Southeast Asia and informed the EU of the signingof the 3 rd Protocol amending the TAC to be held on July 23 whichwould pave the way for the EU’s accession to the TAC at an early stage./.
