Full text of ASEAN+3 Leaders' joint statement on 15-year ASEAN+3 cooperation(part 1)
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, November 20, 2012
The following is the full text of a joint statement issued by the leaders of ASEAN PLus Three countries on the commemoration of the 15th anniversary of ASEAN PLus Three cooperation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Nov. 19, 2012:
ASEAN Plus Three Leaders' Joint Statement on
the Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of
the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation
19 November 2012, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
1. We, the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, gathered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 19 November 2012, to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation.
2. The ASEAN Plus Three Commemorative Summit was chaired by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN SEN, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Heads of State/ Government of ASEAN Member States, the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea attended the meeting. The Secretary-General of ASEAN also attended the Meeting.
3. We reviewed the achievements of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation over the past 15 years, and discussed its future direction. We took note with satisfaction of the fast growing and deepening of cooperation in all areas of cooperation, in particular politics and security, economy, finance, connectivity, food security, energy, environment, health and pandemic diseases, culture, tourism, science, technology and innovation, information and communication technology, poverty eradication, disaster management, and youth and education.
4. We acknowledged that the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation played an indispensable role in promoting East Asian unity and coordination, deepening regional economic integration and expanding horizon for common development. We have successfully tackled the global financial crisis and preserved economic and financial stability, thus becoming the most vibrant region in the global economy. In light of the profound and complex changes in the world and the multiple pressures to maintain sustainable development of the region, we agreed to come together and work collectively to meet the challenges, make good use of the well-established ASEAN Plus Three cooperation mechanisms and give full play to our advantages.
5. We noted with appreciation the substantive progress of the implementation of the Second Joint Statement on the East Asia Cooperation and the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2007-2017) which provided strategic guidance for the future direction of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation. We welcomed the decision of the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in July 2012 to conduct a Mid-Term Review of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan. In order to implement the Work Plan effectively, we supported the strengthening of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Fund (APTCF).
6. We reaffirmed our strong commitment to deepen and broaden the ASEAN Plus Three process, as guided by, inter alia, the 1999 Joint Statement on the East Asia Cooperation and the 2007 Second Joint Statement on the East Asia Cooperation, to serve as a main vehicle towards the long-term goal of building an East Asian community and expressed our continued support for the central role of ASEAN in the evolving regional architecture. We reiterated that the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation would continue to support the realization of the ASEAN Community and pave the way towards regional integration.
7. We realized the importance of maintaining and enhancing peace and stability in the region as indispensable conditions for development and progress. We stressed the importance of respecting for the right of each country to independently choose its development path, and the need to intensify and enhance efforts to promote common values and norms, such as good governance, rule of law, as well as promotion and protection of human rights. We agreed to further strengthen security cooperation, particularly to deal with emerging challenges to peace and stability in both traditional and non-traditional security dimensions.
8. We are committed to further strengthening cooperation and dialogue in political-security area as guided by the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan in order to address emerging regional and global issues as well as to maintain peace, stability, and prosperity in the region. We agreed to continue our discussions on establishing regional institutional arrangements in areas, such as law enforcement, disaster management, combating transnational crime and the prevention and control of diseases. We will continue to : (i) promote mutual trust and understanding through increasing exchanges between officials; and (ii) enhance technical assistance and capacity-building in support of efforts to address traditional and non-traditional security issues in a substantive manner.
9. In light of the shrinking external demand we were confronted with, we agreed to strengthen the internal drivers for East Asia's growth, by boosting demand within the region and promoting intra-regional economic development. We acknowledged the importance of maintaining strong trade relations between ASEAN and the Plus Three countries which had strengthened the region's ability and resilience in dealing with the financial and economic crisis since the inception of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation. To this end, we called upon the relevant ministers to further strengthen and deepen existing ASEAN Plus One Free Trade Agreements with Plus Three countries. We also urged business communities in the region to take full advantage of the opportunities of these FTAs.
10. Due to the rapid regional and global developments, we stressed the importance of achieving a comprehensive, high-quality and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement in this region in accordance with the Guiding Principles and Objectives for Negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) approved by the ASEAN Economic Ministers and their counterparts from ASEAN's FTA Partners in August 2012.We therefore welcomed the progress in the preparation work aiming at the official launch of the RCEP negotiations in November 2012, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which reflects the concrete cooperation among the participating countries to strengthen regional economic integration.
11. We highly appreciated the progress of regional financial cooperation, in particular the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) as a part of the regional financial safety net. In this regard, we welcomed the progress made at the ASEAN Plus Three Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting held on 3 May 2012, in Manila, to strengthen the CMIM including by doubling its total size from 120 billion U.S. dollars to 240 billion dollars, increasing the IMF de-linked portion to 30 percent in 2012, and introducing a crisis prevention facility "CMIM Precautionary Line (CMIM-PL)." We welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) and stressed the importance of strengthening its capacity as an independent regional surveillance unit.
12. We also highly appreciated efforts to utilize regional savings for regional investments through the Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI), including the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF), to promote the development of local currency denominated bond markets and enhancing macroeconomic and financial stability. We welcomed the adoption of the New ABMI Roadmap+ to produce tangible and concrete outcome on the nine priorities, among others, implementation of guarantee program of the CGIF and the ASEAN Plus Three Bond Markets Forum (ABMF) activities including the Common Bond Issuance Program. We also welcomed the initial research findings on priority areas of future regional cooperation. We tasked the relevant Ministries to continue to expeditiously implement the initiative related to regional financial cooperation.
13. We reaffirmed the importance of the ASEAN Chair's participation in the G-20 Summit on a regular basis with a view to reflecting ASEAN as a relevant and responsible regional organization to the global economic and financial cooperation. We also welcomed the substantive outcomes of the G-20 Summit which was held on 18-19 June 2012, in Los Cabos, Mexico.
14. We further welcomed the establishment of the United Nations Secretary-General High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, in which the President of Indonesia is one of its Co-Chairs as a representation of the region.
15. We agreed to further enhance the cooperation in food security. We supported the important role of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve(APTERR) Agreement, which came into force on 12 July 2012 to serve as a permanent mechanism to ensure sustainable and integrated food security in the region, and welcomed the proposed creation of an ASEAN Plus Three Food Security Information System. We tasked out relevant ministers to explore the possibility of establishing mechanisms for other kinds of food. We supported the continued convening of the annual ASEAN Plus Three Food Security Cooperation Roundtable. We also decided to strengthen regional efforts to enhance cooperation in agricultural sector in order to increase agricultural production and productivity, taking into account the diversity of environmental conditions and positive externalities of agriculture. In this regard, we welcomed steady implementation of ASEAN Security Information System (AFSIS) and expected its future development based on the Proposal of Post-2012 AFSIS. (mo
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)