[Title] Ha Noi Declaration on the Fifteenth Anniversary of the East Asia Summit

WE, the Heads of State/Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, the People's Republic of China, the Republic of India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, and the United States of America, met via videoconference on 14 November 2020, under Viet Nam's 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship, on the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the East Asia Summit;

REAFFIRMING the 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the East Asia Summit in setting the broad vision, principles, objectives and modalities of the East Asia Summit, our commitment in the 2010 Ha Noi Declaration on the commemoration of the Fifth Anniversary of the East Asia Summit to cooperate in priority areas of the EAS, the 2011 Bali Declaration on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations, and the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the 10th Anniversary of the East Asia Summit outlining our efforts to strengthen our cooperation for promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region;

NOTING that our region and the world are facing unprecedented challenges, including growing tensions as well as current and emerging non-traditional and transboundary challenges, in particular public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic;

EMPHASISING the importance of mutual trust and confidence, enhanced dialogue and cooperation and a multilateral approach in addressing challenges in order to strengthen the regional multilateral architecture to tackle pressing common regional and global issues, and to support a regional and international order anchored in international law, thus contributing to community building in the region;

SUPPORTING ASEAN's unity and centrality in the ASEAN-led mechanisms, and REAFFIRMING ASEAN as the driving force within the East Asia Summit, working in close partnership with the other participating countries, in which we strive to promote strategic trust and ensure transparent, predictable and responsible behaviour;

EMPHASISING that the East Asia Summit, sitting at the apex of the ASEAN-centred regional architecture, will continue to be a Leaders-led forum for dialogue on broad strategic, political, and economic issues of common interest and concern with the aim of promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity in East Asia, thus contributing to ASEAN Community-building efforts, and building on ASEAN's unity and centrality to promote coherence with mutually-reinforcing ASEAN-led processes such as the ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) as well as the various ASEAN initiatives on wider regional cooperation, which are integral components of the open, inclusive, transparent and evolving regional architecture;

STRESSING the need to further enable the EAS as an effective platform to deal with existing and emerging transnational and transboundary challenges as well as strengthening multilateralism;

NOTING with satisfaction the establishment of regular engagement between the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR) and the non-ASEAN Ambassadors of East Asia Summit participating countries in Jakarta to discuss the implementation of Leaders' decisions as well as exchange information on regional development cooperation initiatives and security policies and initiatives;

LOOKING FORWARD to the timely and effective implementation of Leaders' decisions and the full implementation of the Manila Plan of Action to Advance the Phnom Penh Declaration on the East Asia Summit Development Initiative (2018-2022), including discussions on evolving regional architecture through relevant arrangements, including that of the East Asia Summit Ambassadors in Jakarta, and other ASEAN-led frameworks and mechanisms, in conformity with the EAS participating countries' obligations under international law and in accordance with their respective domestic laws, regulations, and policies;

SATISFIED with the significant progress and achievements of the East Asia Summit over the past fifteen years, including substantial cooperation in addressing common challenges in the region while DESIROUS of further strengthening the East Asia Summit's role in advancing an integrated and prosperous East Asia;

DO HEREBY DECLARE on the fifteenth anniversary of the East Asia Summit:

1. To further strengthen the East Asia Summit, sitting at the apex of the ASEAN-centred regional architecture, as a Leaders-led forum for dialogue and cooperation on broad strategic, political and economic issues of common interest and concern with the aim of promoting peace, stability, economic prosperity in East Asia, and socio-cultural cooperation for regional resilience;

2. To reaffirm the East Asia Summit's strong commitment to multilateralism founded on the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and based on international law, which are the indispensable foundation of a more peaceful and prosperous world;

3. To strengthen the East Asia Summit process so it remains relevant, constructive and effective over time by retaining the informal nature of the East Asia Summit while encouraging interactive discussions among Leaders on issues of common concern as well as collaborative efforts for mutual interest;

4. To improve the efficiency of East Asia Summit work processes, including EAS ministerial and senior officials' mechanisms with better preparation, follow-up and timely responses;

5. To enhance practical actions and comprehensive collaboration in the priority areas of East Asia Summit cooperation, and responses to challenges of mutual concern, as well as carry out periodic reviews of areas of cooperation, reflecting current priorities, challenges and interests;

6. To enhance the role of the East Asia Summit in strengthening regional capacity on preparedness and response to communicable diseases and emerging/re- emerging infectious diseases including public health emergencies and pandemics; and in mitigating their social and economic consequences;

7. To underscore the importance of the East Asia Summit in further strengthening regional economic cooperation and economic relations among the East Asia Summit participating countries;

8. To enhance the East Asia Summit's role in promoting effective synergy among connectivity initiatives in the region, including the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 with the support and contribution from ASEAN's external partners;

9. To support ASEAN's efforts in narrowing the development gap within ASEAN, including through the implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan IV (2021-2025), and promoting sustainable development cooperation in the region;

10. To promote coherence with other ASEAN-led mechanisms which are mutually reinforcing, through fostering synergy among the mechanisms and avoiding duplication of work;

11. To recognise the contributions of the regular engagement between the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and the non-ASEAN Ambassadors of East Asia Summit participating countries in Jakarta in the past five years, encourage its continuation as the East Asia Summit Ambassadors' Meeting in Jakarta, through regular meetings, and further strengthen its work, including by developing any processes, as necessary, in consultation with relevant senior officials, to guide its work in discussing the implementation of Leaders' decisions as well as exchanging information on regional development cooperation initiatives and security policies and initiatives, and the discussions on the evolving regional architecture; and

12. To further strengthen mechanisms to coordinate the implementation of Leaders' decisions and East Asia Summit initiatives, with the support of the East Asia Summit Unit at the ASEAN Secretariat.

ADOPTED on the Fourteenth of November in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty.