Chairman Statement of The Second East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Meeting
12 July 2012, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Second East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 12 July 2012. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. HOR Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia.
The Ministers acknowledged the development and growing importance of the EAS as an integral part of the evolving regional architecture. In this connection, the Ministers were pleased to note the strengthening of partnership and cooperation under the EAS framework, and stressed the need to further consolidating and enhancing the role of the EAS as a leaders-led forum for dialogue and cooperation on broad strategic, political and economic issues, including geopolitical issues of common interest and concern with the aim of promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity in East Asia. The Ministers underlined the necessity of joining efforts to strengthen the regional architecture, based on mutually-reinforcing mechanisms and the principles of international law and use of multilateral mechanisms in finding common solution to problems. The Ministers also stressed the need to utilize the current configuration as new impetus to strengthen the evolving regional architecture, by fostering closer collaboration among all EAS participating countries, with ASEAN as the driving force.
The Ministers reaffirmed their support to the central role of ASEAN in the EAS. They also stressed the important need for all participating countries of the EAS to adhere to the principles, objectives and modalities of the EAS as enshrined in the 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on East Asia Summit, the 2010 Ha Noi Declaration in Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of the EAS, and 2011 Declaration of the East Asia Summit on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations (Bali Principles).
The Ministers reviewed the progress of cooperation in the framework of the EAS, in particular in the priority areas, namely, finance, environment and energy, education, global health issues and communicable diseases, disaster management, and ASEAN Connectivity and regional economic integration. They also exchanged views on the future direction of the EAS.
The Ministers were pleased with the implemented activities under the EAS cooperation on environment and energy. They took note with appreciation the outcomes of the 3rd High Level Seminar on Environmentally Sustainable Cities (HLS-ESC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia on 6-8 March 2012, and the East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Dialogue in Tokyo on 15 April 2012. They looked forward to the 3rd EAS Seminar on Climate Change Adaptation Capacity Building, the EAS Forum on New Energy which would be held in China, and the Second East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Dialogue to be co-chaired by Cambodia and Japan in Tokyo in 2013. The Ministers noted Russia's proposal to set up an instrument to provide financial support to implement activities on Low Carbon Growth as well as its proposal on the EAS Task Force on Energy Cooperation to explore the possibility of creating a new legal framework of international energy cooperation.
The Ministers expressed strong commitment to further strengthen the human resource development in the region. They welcomed the convening of the First EAS Education Ministers' Meeting (EMM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 5 July 2012, and the adoption of the EAS Education Action Plan.
The Ministers welcomed China's proposal to improve cooperation on higher education, especially in bilingual teaching to promote competitiveness of higher education in the East Asia region. They also noted with appreciation Russia's proposal to convene an EAS Rectors' Conference, as well as the US' proposal to conduct English Language Training courses for ASEAN Member States as well as the US-Brunei Darussalam Partnership for English Language Education in ASEAN as part of its commitment to support capacity building for the peoples of ASEAN.
The Ministers emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges, particularly among the youth and students with a view to fostering a sense of togetherness, mutual respect and understanding of each other's tradition and values. In this context, they commended the efforts and substantial contribution of Japan in implementing the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths (JENESYS), and welcomed Japan's new youth exchange project named "Kizuna Project" which was a part of Japan's reconstruction plans, aiming at promoting global understanding of Japan revival efforts in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake. The Ministers extended their commitment to the steady implementation of this project.
The Ministers reaffirmed the important role of Nalanda University and took note of the progress made in the establishment of the University, including the proposal to conduct a Global Design Competition for the design of the University as soon as possible.
The Ministers welcomed China's proposal to convene a training course on public health for the EAS participating countries.
The Ministers discussed the threat of emerging drug resistant Malaria and agreed that improved cooperative approaches to address this major health threat are required. The Ministers took note of the recommendations to have a declaration on this agenda adopted at the 7th EAS in November 2012 in Phnom Penh.
The Ministers welcomed the progress toward the convening of the Second Meeting of EAS Finance Ministers to discuss EAS finance cooperation.
The Ministers expressed commitment to enhance both multilateral and bilateral cooperation in disaster prevention and disaster relief efforts as well as to strengthen the effective operationalization of the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management (AHA Centre). In this context, they welcomed Japan's decision to provide a new assistance for the establishment of disaster emergency logistic systems. They reaffirmed the statement by the Leaders at the Sixth EAS in November 2011 held in Bali, Indonesia encouraging all EAS participating countries to contribute to the implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme 2010-2015.
The Ministers welcomed the convening of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) Working Group Meeting to discuss the implementation of the proposals mentioned in the "Indonesian-Australian Paper: A Practical Approach to Enhance Regional Cooperation on Disaster Rapid Response". The Ministers encouraged further implementation of the Paper based on AADMER Work Programme as well as the AHA Centre Strategic Plan.
In this connection, the Ministers welcomed the recent convening of the ACDM Working Group in Bangkok on 2 June 2012 to discuss the linkage between the AADMER Work Programme and the proposed EAS Work Plan on Disaster Management. They also took note of the three main focus areas of ASEAN cooperation in disaster management, namely, i) flood and drought prevention; ii) climate change; and, iii) rapid post-disaster recovery, and welcomed non-ASEAN EAS participating countries to continue working closely with ASEAN in these areas. In this regard, Thailand will host the Information Sharing Dialogue between the ACDM and EAS Participating Countries back-to-back with the 21st Meeting of the ACDM in January 2013. The Ministers noted with appreciation the US' initiative to promote implementation of Rapid Disaster Response agreements among EAS participating countries in the acceptance and deployment of international assistance in response to large scale disaster in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Ministers welcomed Japan's commitment to providing $3 billion to developing countries over the next three years as well as hosting the "World Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku" in July 2012, in order to share experiences and lessons-learned from the large-scale natural disasters. They reaffirmed the importance to build "resilient society" based on human security and to mainstream disaster reduction in decision-making at all levels. They looked forward to the convening of the Third World Conference on Disaster Reduction, which Japan expressed its intention to host in 2015.
The Ministers also welcomed the initiative of India to host the EAS Conference 2012 on Building Regional Responses, and a conference on capacity building on Disaster Management and Relief to be held in September 2012. They also welcomed Russia's proposal to create a network that would connect national disaster relief centres of all EAS participating countries.
The Ministers stressed the importance of ASEAN Connectivity in promoting economic integration and looked forward to the effective implementation of the Declaration of the 6th EAS on ASEAN Connectivity adopted at the 6th EAS in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2011, in particular the development of a regional public-private partnership (PPP) development agenda, the active involvement of the public and private sectors in key priority projects under the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, close cooperation in people-to-people connectivity. They reaffirmed their support for the enhancement of ASEAN Connectivity, and shared the importance of expanding Connectivity beyond ASEAN as well. In this context, the Ministers supported the implementation of the Master Plan as it will contribute to intra-regional efforts towards greater connectivity and integration. To this end, the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Connectivity (ACCC) with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat and ERIA will discuss and implement the above-mentioned initiatives, as well as consider working out the modalities of establishing a Working Group under the EAS rubric to look into the issue of financing ASEAN Connectivity.
The Ministers welcomed the regional efforts to enhance cooperation in promoting maritime cooperation in the region including on combating piracy and armed robbery against ship, search and rescue at sea, marine environment, maritime security, maritime connectivity, freedom of navigation, fisheries and other areas of cooperation. The Ministers looked forward to the convening of the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (AMF) back-to-back with the next ASEAN Maritime Forum to be held on the second half of 2012, in the Philippines, with the view to addressing common challenges on maritime issues. The Ministers noted the proposed idea on studying modalities of fisheries resources management in other regions.
The Ministers underlined the importance of the maintenance of peace, security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and urged concerned parties not to conduct any further provocations and to comply with their respective obligations under the relevant UNSC Resolutions and their commitment under the 2005 Six-Party Talks Joint Statement. To this end, the Ministers further reiterated the call for all parties concerned to explore all possibilities to engage in a peaceful dialogue, including the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, which would lead to creating an atmosphere of trust and confidence that could contribute to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
The Ministers reiterated their commitments to further coordinate efforts in combating terrorism and other non-traditional security threat and challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. They strongly supported the strengthening of global disarmament and non-proliferation regime, calling for further elaboration of strict verification mechanism for non-proliferation and disarmament obligations.
The Ministers exchanged views on the recent developments in the South China Sea. They emphasized the importance of the full and effective implementation of the DOC, and welcomed the follow-up activities following the adoption of the Guidelines for the Implementation of the DOC. They further reaffirmed the call for all concerned parties to the peaceful resolution of the disputes in accordance with the recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS.
The Ministers agreed that on-going processes of political transition in part of the Middle East and North Africa made its necessary for all parties concerned to work collectively in order to find way of addressing of crises in the region. This should be done within the legal framework and through peaceful only, without external interference, rejecting all kinds of violence from all sides, establishing a broad national dialogue with due respect for independent, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country of the region.
The Ministers welcomed the progress made by officials from both ASEAN and ASEAN's FTAs Partners in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Working Groups on Goods, Services and Investments and looked forward to the launch of RCEP negotiations at the 21st ASEAN Summit.
The Ministers affirmded their support for the ASEAN's Paper on the Global Movement of Moderates that was adopted by the Leaders at the 20th ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in April 2012. The Ministers took note that Malaysia and the ASEAN Secretariat are working closely to involve an action plan based on the Concept Paper. The Ministers took note that the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF) has been established as national focal point to spearhead activities at the national level for Malaysia. In this connection, the Ministers agreed to all participating countries of the EAS to begin the process of identifying their national focal points.
With regard to the future of the EAS, the Ministers agreed to continue to make the EAS meetings more conducive, constructive, visionary, and strategic with tangible outcomes. In this context, they also welcomed the intention of China to host a track 1.5 International Symposium on East Asia Summit and the Future of East Asia in China in 2012.
The Ministers reiterated that EAS cooperation should be directed to strengthen regional resilience and competitiveness, as well as to cope and address adverse effects from challenges in the global fora, by utilizing the existing ASEAN mechanisms.
The Ministers were of the view that EAS cooperation and other existing mechanisms in the region, including the ARF and ADMM-Plus, could mutually reinforce one another and positively contribute to the evolving regional architecture.
The Ministers also discussed the preparations for the upcoming 7th EAS to be held in Phnom Penh in November 2012.
The Ministers looked forward to the 3rd EAS Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Brunei Darussalam in 2013.