Chairman’s Press Statement for the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences
Manila, 1 August 2007
1. The ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference (PMC)+1 Sessions with ASEAN's six Dialogue Partners, namely, Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, and the United States, and the ASEAN PMC+10 Working Lunch were held in Manila on 1 August 2007.
Australia
2. The ASEAN PMC+1 with Australia was co-chaired by H.E.
Nittya Pibulsonggram, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and
H.E. Alexander Downer Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Australia. The Meeting welcomed the signing of the Joint
Declaration on ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership on 1
August 2007, which affirms ASEAN and Australia's intention to
pursue an action-oriented and forward-looking partnership in the
areas of political-security, economic, socio-cultural and
development cooperation.
3. The Meeting noted that ASEAN and Australia were finalizing
the draft Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-Australia
Comprehensive Partnership to be adopted possibly on the sideline of
the 3rd East Asia Summit in Singapore in November 2007.
Canada
4. The ASEAN PMC+1 with Canada was co-chaired by H.E. Le Cong
Phung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Leonard
Edwards, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. The
Meeting adopted the 2007-2010 ASEAN-Canada Joint Cooperation Work
Plan, which outlines cooperation in priority areas, such as counter
terrorism and transnational crime, economic cooperation, health
security, inter-faith dialogue, and technical assistance and
capacity building with the ASEAN Secretariat.
5. ASEAN reiterated its call on Canada to accede to the Treaty
of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia. Canada
responded that it would positively consider the request.
European Union
6. The ASEAN PMC+1 with the European Union (EU) was
co-chaired by H.E. HOR Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia, and
H.E. Dr. Javier Solana, Secretary-General of the Council of the
European Union and the High Representative for Common Foreign and
Security Policy.
5. The Meeting looked forward to the convening of the ASEAN-EU
Commemorative Summit in Singapore in November 2007. The
Meeting welcomed EU's pronouncement that it would invite as many EU
Leaders as possible for this event.
6. The Meeting called for the early finalization of the draft
Plan of Action to implement the Nuremberg Declaration on ASEAN-EU
Enhanced Partnership.
7. ASEAN welcomed EU's readiness to accede to the Treaty of
Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia as soon as the
necessary Protocol to the Treaty is agreed upon.
New Zealand
8. The ASEAN PMC+1 with the New Zealand was co-chaired by
H.E. U Nyan Win, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Union of
Myanmar, and H.E. Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Trade of New Zealand. The Meeting called for the continued
implementation of the ASEAN-New Zealand Framework Cooperation
2006-2010 and the convening of more frequent Dialogue
meetings between ASEAN and New Zealand to strengthen their Dialogue
Relations.
9. The Meeting welcomed the progress in the negotiations for
ASEAN-Australia/New Zealand Free Trade Area.
Russian Federation
10. The ASEAN PMC+1 with the Russian Federation was co-chaired
by H.E. Alberto G. Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of the Philippines, and H.E. Sergey Lavrov, Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The Ministers
agreed to renew efforts in implementing the ASEAN-Russia
Comprehensive Program of Action to Promote Cooperation 2005-2015 to
further enhance dialogue relations.
11. The Meeting welcomed the ratification by all ASEAN Member
Countries and the Russian Federation of the Terms of Reference
(TOR) of ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership Financial Fund (DPFF)
and the ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (ARJCC).
12. The Meeting expressed appreciation for Russia's
contribution to the ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership Financial
Fund (DPFF). The Meeting looked forward to the launching of
joint ASEAN-Russia projects.
13. The Meeting called for the early finalization of the
ASEAN-Russia Agreement on Cultural Cooperation to enhance greater
exchanges between ASEAN and Russia in the various cultural
fields.
United States of America
14. The ASEAN PMC+1 with the United States of America (U.S.)
was co-chaired by H.E. George Yong-Boon Yeo, Minister of Foreign
Affairs of Singapore, and H.E. John Negroponte, Deputy Secretary of
State of the U.S. The Meeting expressed understanding on
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's inability to attend the PMC+1
Session.
15. The Meeting highlighted the key role of the U.S. in the
region. The U.S. assured the Meeting that the ASEAN-U.S.
Commemorative Summit will be held at an agreed date in the near
future.
16. ASEAN encouraged the U.S. to accede to the TAC. The
U.S responded that it would positively consider the
proposal.
17. ASEAN and the U.S. looked forward to the signing of the
ASEAN-U.S. Science and Technology Agreement this year.
ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference+10 Working Lunch
18. The ASEAN PMC+10 Working Lunch was chaired by H.E.
Alberto G. Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of
the Philippines. All Foreign Ministers and Representatives of
ASEAN Member Countries and the ten ASEAN Dialogue Partners, namely,
Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, the
Republic of Korea, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, the U.S.,
and the Secretary-General of ASEAN, were present.
19. The Meeting discussed regional and international
developments. The Meeting recognized the importance of
increasing the international community's efforts to counter
terrorism, promote energy security, and prevent
pandemics.
20. The Meeting welcomed the positive developments in the
Six-Party Talks and expressed hope that these would lead to the
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the normalization of
relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the
U.S. and Japan.
21. The Meeting highlighted the problems of environment and
climate change and the need to support various initiatives to
address these challenges. The Meeting expressed support for
the convening of the 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 3rd
Meeting of Parties (MOP) of the Kyoto Protocol to be held in Bali
on 3-14 December 2007.
22. The Meeting called for the release of hostages in
Afghanistan without conditions.