Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended the ASEAN+3 Summit and theMekong-Japan Summit in Bali, Indonesia, on Nov. 18 within the frameworkof the 19 th ASEAN Summit and related summits.
At the ASEAN+3Summit, leaders of ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK)spoke highly of progress in ASEAN+3 cooperation, including theimplementation of the Chiang Mai Initiative MultilateralisationAgreement, the ASEAN+3 Emergency Rice Reserves Agreement and the EastAsia Vision Group II and cooperative programmes on transnational crimecontrol, climate change, infectious epidemics and cultural exchanges.
Onthe orientation for cooperation, the leaders agreed to focus on theimplementation of ASEAN+3 cooperative programmes for 2007-2017, increasefinancial and monetary cooperation, boost trade, investment ties andpromote East Asia linkage on the basis of implementation of the MasterPlan on ASEAN Connectivity and boost cooperation to respond tonon-traditional challenges.
PM Dung made contributions to theASEAN+3 cooperative process by proposing to focus sources to carry outthe 2007-2017 cooperative plan, especially the enhancement of financialand monetary cooperation, step up cooperation in trade, investment,tourism, transport and infrastructure development, ensure the roadmap offree trade agreements between ASEAN and China, Japan and the RoK andconduct a feasibility study on the establishment of the East Asian FreeTrade Area.
He also proposed the joint organisation of celebrations for the 15th anniversary of ASEAN+3 dialogue ties in 2012.
Atthe Mekong-Japan Summit, Prime Minister Dung and leaders of Cambodia,Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Japan highlighted the outcomes inimplementing action programme 63, Mekong-Japan economic and industrialcooperation initiatives and the Mekong Green Decade as well as specificprojects and actions on infrastructure development in the East-WestEconomic Corridor, the Southern Economic Corridor, construction ofseaports and airports in the Mekong River basin countries, environmentalprotection, response to climate change and human resource training.
Theleaders agreed to build new cooperative pillars for the 2013-2015period to replace the action programme 63 and increase cooperation insocio-economic development and environmental protection to promotesustainable development, use, protection and management of Mekong Riverwater sources for comprehensive, balanced and sustainable development inthe Mekong region, contributing to the building of the ASEAN Communityand development in the region.
PM Dung urged the two sides tofocus in the five key areas of ASEAN connectivity, environmentalcooperation, public-private partnership cooperation, human security, andmaternal and child health care services.
Vietnam highlyvalued Japan ’s efforts and aspiration to become a permanent memberof the UN Security Council if the agency is expanded, he affirmed.
Oncooperation in environmental and water management, PM Dung stressed theimportance of the Mekong River in the socio-economic development ofall sub-regional countries, saying that coordination among MekongRiver countries to study and assess impacts on habitat is urgent.Before making decisions on construction of hydropower projects on theMekong River ’s main stream, Cambodia , Laos , Thailand andVietnam should ask Japan to assist in studying and assessingenvironmental impacts.
At the end of the summit the leaders issued a joint statement./.