[Title] Chairman's Statement of the First East Asia Summit

1. The First East Asia Summit was held successfully on 14 December 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Meeting was chaired by The Honourable Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of Malaysia, and was attended by Heads of State/Government of ASEAN, Australia, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand. Russia was invited as Guest of the Government of Malaysia. Malaysia was privileged to host and chair this historic Summit.

2. We had a productive exchange of views on regional and international political and economic issues as well as on the challenges facing the region and the world.

3. Understanding that the de-nuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful and verifiable manner will greatly contribute to the peace, stability, and prosperity of the Asia Pacific region, we strongly endorsed the Joint Statement adopted at the Fourth Round of the Six-party Talks on September 19, 2005. We also shared the view that the Fifth Round of the Talks should be resumed as soon as possible, as agreed upon, to enable the Parties to the Talks to continue their discussion on ways to faithfully and expeditiously implement the commitments stated in the Joint Statement.

4. We exchanged views on the recent developments in the region, international terrorism, maritime security as well as the need to address the threat of infectious diseases. In this context we adopted the East Asia Summit Declaration on Avian Influenza Prevention, Control and Response. Leaders acknowledged the ongoing threat that terrorism poses to the region and stressed the continuing need for comprehensive efforts, including at national and regional levels, to combat it.

5. Recognizing the fact that our economies are dependent upon stable fuel supplies and in the light of the uncertainty of global fuel prices, we supported cooperation in the energy field including development of fuel efficient technologies and alternative energy sources.

6. We recognized the increasing inter-linkages and growing inter-dependence among our countries and agreed to deepen integration and cooperation in order to promote the creation of a harmonious and prosperous community of nations.

7. We discussed development issues which include among others, issues such as sustainable development, technology transfer, trade and investment related issues, challenges to socio-economic development namely poverty, development gap, capacity building and issues related to good governance and promotion of human rights and democracy. We reiterated our commitment for concerted regional and global efforts to respond to these challenges.

8. We reaffirmed our abiding commitment to the objectives of the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization and the importance of the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial establishing a clear roadmap for completion of the Doha round in 2006. We reiterated our strong preference that all WTO members must achieve an ambitious and balanced outcome in the Doha Round that is development-orientated and delivers real gains for trade in agriculture, non-agricultural market access and services.

9. We also had an exchange of views on the effort at community building being undertaken in the East Asian region. In this regard we expressed our full support for ASEAN's efforts to realize the ASEAN Community. We also recognized that the East Asian community is a long term goal that would contribute to the maintenance of peace, security, prosperity and progress in the region and beyond.

10. We had extensive and in-depth discussions on the East Asia Summit and its role in the evolving regional architecture. We agreed that the East Asia Summit with ASEAN as the driving force is an integral part of the overall evolving regional architecture. We also agreed that the East Asian region had already advanced in its efforts to realise an East Asian community through the ASEAN+3 process. In this context we believed that the EAS together with the ASEAN+3 and the ASEAN+1 processes could play a significant role in community building in the region.

11. We reiterated our agreement that the East Asia Summit should remain open and outward looking, with ASEAN as the driving force working in partnership with the other participants of the East Asia Summit. In this context, we welcomed the Russian Federation's expression of interest to participate in the East Asia Summit and agreed to consider its participation in future East Asia Summits based on the criteria established by ASEAN.

12. We agreed that the EAS would continue to be a leaders-led Summit for strategic discussions on key issues affecting the region and the evolving regional architecture. We appreciated the informal, retreat style format of our first meeting which enabled us to discuss issues in a frank, spontaneous and free-flowing manner.

13. We also noted that some form of mechanism may be desirable to facilitate follow-up action of the EAS and to coordinate and implement the areas of cooperation we had identified. In this regard we agreed that the officials and the ASEAN Secretariat follow through with the decisions of the EAS.

14. We signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the East Asia Summit outlining its principles and purposes, areas of cooperation and primary modalities.

15. We agreed that the East Asia Summit will be convened annually. In this context we agreed to convene the Second East Asia Summit in Cebu, Philippines on 13 December 2006.