[Title] CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT OF THE 14TH ASEAN PLUS THREE FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING
1. The 14th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) was held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, on 30 June 2013. The Meeting was chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Darussalam.
2. The Ministers welcomed the good progress and achievements of the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation and reaffirmed their commitment to deepen and broaden the process, as guided by the Second Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation and the ASEAN Plus Three Leaders' Joint Statement on the Commemoration of the 15th Anniversary of the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, to serve as a main vehicle towards the long-term goal of building an East Asian community, with ASEAN as the driving force.
3. The Ministers reiterated the importance of ASEAN's central role in the evolving regional architecture and agreed that the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation would continue to support the realisation of the ASEAN Community by 2015 and pave the way towards deeper regional integration. The Ministers also took note of Indonesia's call for ASEAN to formulate aspirational goals beyond 2015, such as doubling ASEAN's combined GDP and halving the percentage of people living in poverty in the ASEAN region by 2030.
4. The Ministers recalled the Bali Declaration on ASEAN Community in a Global Community of Nations (Bali Concord III) and its Plan of Action (2013-2017) and reaffirmed the commitment to implement it with the support of ASEAN's Dialogue Partners, including within the frameworks of the ASEAN Plus Three.
5. The Ministers reviewed with satisfaction the progress made by the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation through the implementation of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2007-2017). The Ministers adopted the paper on the Mid-Term Review of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2007-2017) and tasked the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and the Ambassadors of the Plus Three countries to ASEAN to look into the recommendations and submit the Revised ASEAN
Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan (2013-2017) to the 16th ASEAN Plus Three Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan in October 2013.
6. The Ministers recognised the necessity to replenish the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Fund (APTCF) and look forward to its replenishment in accordance with the Terms of Reference of the APTCF.
7. The Ministers took note that the East Asia Vision Group II (EAVG II) Report was submitted to the ASEAN Plus Three Commemorative Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 19 November 2012 and in this regard, adopted the Concept Paper on the Follow-Ups to the EAVG II Report which outlined a comprehensive assessment to be taken in three phases from November 2013 to October 2014.
8. The Ministers looked forward to the implementation of the Leaders' Statement on ASEAN Plus Three Partnership on Connectivity which was adopted at the ASEAN Plus Three Commemorative Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 19 November 2012, and agreed to explore the possibility of additional financing mechanisms under the APT framework to support the implementation of ASEAN connectivity projects. The Ministers also reaffirmed the need to further promote cooperation to support the implementation of the IAI Work Plan II.
9. The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN Plus Three cooperation in maintaining peace, security and stability which are indispensable conditions for development in the East Asia region hence agreed to further strengthen political-security cooperation, to deal with emerging challenges in both traditional and non-traditional security dimensions, inter alia the threat of terrorism and emerging cybercrimes. The Ministers also underscored the need to promote common values and norms, such as good governance, rule of law, as well as the promotion and protection of human rights through policy dialogue and capacity building activities.
10. The Ministers lauded the steady growth of the East Asia region, with the developing countries poised to grow at an average of 5.5% in 2013, up from 5.1% in 2012, notwithstanding the uncertainties in the global economy and financial markets.
11. The Ministers noted and welcomed the recent milestones achieved during the 16th ASEAN Plus Three Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting that took place in Delhi, India on 3 May 2013, in particular, finalisation of amendments to the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation Agreement, consensus on the draft Agreement to transform the ASEAN Plus Three Macroeconomic Research Office to an international organisation, endorsement of the work plan to implement the Asian Bond Markets Initiative New Roadmap+ and the initiative on "Fostering Infrastructure Financing Bonds Development" to promote both issuance and demand of infrastructure financing bonds, as well as, the inauguration of the guarantee transaction of the Credit Guarantee Investment Facility.
12. The Ministers welcomed the commencement of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in May 2013 in Brunei Darussalam which would serve to strengthen ASEAN Centrality in the emerging regional economic architecture and the interests of ASEAN Plus Three in supporting and contributing to economic integration, equitable economic development and strengthening economic cooperation among the participating countries. In this regard, the Ministers expressed their support for a process which will be in accordance with the Joint Declaration on the Launch of Negotiations for the RCEP and the Guiding Principle and Objectives for Negotiating the RCEP.
13. The Ministers reaffirmed their support to achieve greater energy security hence welcomed the decision of the 9th ASEAN Plus Three Ministers on Energy Meeting on 12 September 2012 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to balance energy security with economic competitiveness and environmental sustainability through strengthening regional commitments to the ASEAN Plus Three energy cooperation. The Ministers welcomed the steady progress of the activities in the field of energy security and acknowledged the importance of cooperation among stakeholders to study possible energy options for the region including, among others, civilian nuclear energy, oil stockpiling, coal and clean coal technologies.
14. The Ministers underscored the importance of ensuring food security in the East Asia region. In this regard, the Ministers recalled that the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) Agreement entered into force on 12 July 2012 and commended the initiative taken by the APTERR in response to the occurrence of flood damage in late 2012 in the Philippines as its first case. The Ministers also welcomed the successful implementation of the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) Project, looking forward to the further development of AFSIS into the ASEAN Plus Three Food Security Information System.
15. The Ministers also reaffirmed the importance of ensuring food safety in this region and the commitment to appropriately review and relax restrictions on imports from Japan after the nuclear accident, to promote trade, investment and travel in the region.
16. The Ministers recognised the increasing need to facilitate closer cooperation on environment and sustainable development in line with the Outcome of the United Nations on Sustainable Development 2012 (Rio+20). They noted the convening of the 11th ASEAN Plus Three Environment Ministers' Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand on 27 September 2012, the 5th ASEAN Plus Three Leadership Programme on Sustainable Production and Consumption in Manila, the Philippines on 17-19 October 2012 and welcomed the proposal to hold the 2nd ASEAN Plus Three Youth Environment Forum with the theme "Youth and Sustainability" in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam in December 2013.
17. The Ministers welcomed the decision of the 5th ASEAN Plus Three Health Ministers' Meeting in Phuket, Thailand on 6 July 2012 to align health cooperation initiatives with the ASEAN Strategic Framework on Health Development (2010-2015) with specific focus on areas such as Emerging Infectious Diseases, Pandemic Preparedness and Response, and Traditional Medicines. They also reiterated the need to strengthen cooperation in addressing threats of disease outbreaks in the East Asia region.
18. The Ministers looked forward to the implementation of the ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education (2010-2017) which would help strengthen education cooperation and human resource development in the East Asia region. They also reaffirmed their support to promote quality assurance in higher education amongst the ASEAN Plus Three countries, including the convening of the 1st APT Working Group on "Mobility of Higher Education and Ensuring Quality Assurance of Higher Education among ASEAN Plus Three countries" and a related forum later this year in Tokyo.
19. The Ministers looked forward to the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Cooperation in early 2014 which would be one of the key instruments to strengthen the good relationship and cooperation amongst the ASEAN Plus Three countries in the tourism sector.
20. The Ministers acknowledged the important and complimentary role played by the ASEAN-China Centre, ASEAN-Japan Centre, and ASEAN-ROK Centre, which over the years, have helped facilitate and promote trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between ASEAN and the Plus Three countries. In this regard, the Ministers encouraged the three centres to exchange ideas and experiences in order to consolidate cooperative projects in ASEAN.
21. The Ministers recognised the need to strengthen cooperation in the information sector to raise the awareness of ASEAN and promote mutual understanding amongst the people of East Asia. In this regard, the Ministers welcomed the endorsement of the Work Plan on Enhancing ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Through Information and Media (2012-2017) at the 2nd Conference of the ASEAN Plus Three Ministers Responsible for Information in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 1 March 2012.
22. The Ministers acknowledged the 4th ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting on Youth held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on 23 May 2013 and the readiness of China, Japan and the ROK to continue supporting and cooperating with ASEAN youth programmes. They noted that new initiatives and programmes from the Plus Three counties offered more opportunities for further interaction and exchange of technical know-how between the young people from Southeast Asian countries and the Plus Three countries.
23. The Ministers appreciated the important role of the East Asia Forum (EAF) as a think-tank for East Asian regional cooperation between government, business, and
academic circles. In this regard, the Ministers looked forward to the convening of the 11th EAF in Kyoto, Japan on 20-22 August 2013 with the theme of "Enhancing People-to-People Connectivity: Focusing on Tourism Cooperation".
24. The Ministers appreciated the important contribution of the Network of East Asia Think-Tanks (NEAT) in supporting the ASEAN Plus Three, hence shared the determination for greater involvement of the NEAT within the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three cooperation.
25. The Ministers took note of China's initiatives to hold several ASEAN Plus Three activities this year namely: the 5th East Asia Business Forum; APT Workshop on Law Enforcement Cooperation on Combating Telecom Fraud; 6th APT Forum on Biomass Energy; 5th APT Roundtable on Food Security Cooperation Strategy; Seminar and Training Course on the Prevention and Control of Animal Epidemic Disease; NEAT Working Group Meeting on Financing Infrastructure Connectivity in East Asia; 8th APT Workshop on Cooperation for Cultural Human Resource Development; 6th APT Media Cooperation Forum; APT Training Program on Understanding China; and International Symposium of East Asia Connectivity Partnership.
26. The Ministers reaffirmed the importance for the Chairman of ASEAN to continue to be invited to participate in the G-20 Summits on a regular basis.
27. The Ministers stressed the need to maintain peace, security and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and encouraged peaceful dialogue including the resumption of the Six Party Talks. The Ministers reiterated the importance of fully complying with obligations in all relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions and commitments under the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks. The Ministers reiterated their support for all efforts to bring about the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and reaffirmed their commitments to fully implement the relevant UNSC Resolutions to this end. The Ministers also emphasised the importance of addressing the issues of humanitarian concerns of the international community.
28. The Ministers looked forward to the 15th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in 2014.