Joint Communiqué

26 September 2015

1. We, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia (MIKTA), met today in New York to share views on major global and regional issues and to discuss MIKTA's priorities and agenda for the year ahead.

2. In the session on global and regional issues, we discussed the current events and emerging trends affecting our security and prosperity. Topics included the situation in Iraq and Syria and the Syrian refugee crisis; counter-terrorism, including foreign terrorist fighters; the situation on the Korean Peninsula; climate change; and development cooperation.

3. Highlighting that climate change represents an opportunity to drive creativity and innovation, we issued a joint statement on climate change and agreed to continue close consultations to work towards a successful outcome from the 21st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Paris, France in December 2015.

4. We welcomed the ambitious and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which envisages a world free from poverty and hunger; a world of gender equality; one of peaceful, just and inclusive societies; and one that protects the planet and its natural resources. We recognise that the means of implementation are key to realising the 2030 Agenda. MIKTA will seek to implement the 2030 Agenda through advocacy and collaboration, including in MIKTA development dialogues, the G20, the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, and other global and regional forums.

5. We reflected on the MIKTA joint statement at the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development, which articulated our shared perspectives on how these goals should be achieved. These included supporting more effective use of domestic resources; enhancing the opportunity for economic growth; encouraging private sector investment in sustainable development; prioritising gender equality; promoting good governance; addressing the needs of middle income countries; improving humanitarian assistance; revitalising the global partnership; and ensuring follow up and review processes are implemented.

6. We once again underline the major challenges posed by humanitarian crises. Spiralling conflict and natural disasters threaten to reverse much of the development progress made in recent decades. Effective measures must be taken by all to meet the needs of people living in areas affected by complex humanitarian crises. International cooperation should also strengthen the resilience of communities in humanitarian crises and in the context of disaster risk reduction and enhance burden sharing in hosting refugees. Leaving no one behind also requires the alignment of development and humanitarian responses. In this context, we underline the importance of the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit to be held on 23-24 May 2016 in İstanbul. We need to leave the Summit with real reforms and actions to respond to current and future humanitarian challenges.

7. We agreed to an ambitious agenda for the year ahead, in keeping with our vision that MIKTA should provide pragmatic and constructive solutions to challenges affecting global prosperity and security. We support the modernisation of international energy organisations to make them more inclusive of emerging and developing economies. We welcome the G20's focus on energy access in 2015 and we will cooperate to complement existing efforts to promote energy access.

8. We committed to enhancing cooperation on counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism and radicalisation to promote global security. We also committed to supporting efforts to strengthen good governance, democracy and human rights. We agreed to collaborate on trade and economic issues and on sustainable development, including by working to boost the knowledge-based economies in MIKTA countries.

9. We agreed to work together to promote gender equality by advocating in our respective regions broader acceptance of the commitment to reduce the gender gap in employment by 25 per cent by 2025, taking into account national circumstances. We will also encourage gender equality across the spectrum of MIKTA activities.

10. We welcome the agreement reached between South Korea and North Korea on 25 August 2015 to reduce tension, and hope that it will lead to improved inter-Korean relations. Building on the MIKTA joint communiqué of April 2014 on the Situation in North Korea, we called on North Korea to refrain from any actions that will violate relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and to promptly return to meaningful denuclearization talks.

11. We thanked the Republic of Korea for its strong leadership as chair of MIKTA during 2014-15. We noted that much has been accomplished since the 5th MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meeting, including the MIKTA Speakers' Consultation, held in July 2015 in Seoul; the MIKTA Young Professionals' Camp for graduate students, held in July 2015 in Korea; and 2015 Korea Festivals held in MIKTA countries. Based on the agreement reached at the 5th MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meeting, we agreed to continue to explore options for a MIKTA Leaders' gathering on the sidelines of the G20 Summit to be held in Antalya, Turkey in November 2015.

12. We look forward to further cooperation in 2015-16, under Australia's year as chair. We are confident that in taking forward the ambitious but practical agenda agreed today, MIKTA will come to be synonymous with innovative diplomacy and recognised as an effective champion of good global governance in the 21st century. We look forward to further productive discussions at the 7th MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Antalya, Turkey in November on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.