ASEAN foreign ministers on Sunday met with those from China, Japan, and South Korea in Brunei for greater ties under the framework of the 46th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.
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| 46th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting and all related meeting take place at the International Convention Centre in Brunei. (Photo: VGP) |
At ASEAN+3 talks, ASEAN, Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean foreign ministers agreed to speed up the implementation of the ASEAN+3 Work Plan for the 2007-2013 period, aiming at broadened cooperation. They worked on the mid-term review of the 2007-2017 work plan and the East Asia Vision Group II Report composed by South Korea. All sides will promote the deployment of a Leaders' Statement on the ASEAN+3 Partnership on Connectivity, the Asian Bond Markets Initiative, the Infrastructure Financing Bonds Development, and the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
At the ASEAN+1 meeting with China, the diplomats agreed to launch activities marking the 10th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership. Such activities will include the Special ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting in China, an ASEAN economic ministers’ tour of China, and a summit to be held in August. The two sides emphasized that ASEAN and China should continue fully realizing commitments stated in the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the ASEAN-China Joint Statement on the DOC’s 10th anniversary to ensure regional peace and boost consultations for an early adoption of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).
At the event, they were unanimous in launching official consultations at the ASEAN-China Senior Official’ Meeting (SOM) on the COC. The sixth ASEAN-China SOM and the ninth ASEAN-China Working Group Meeting will take place in China this September.
At the ASEAN-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the two sides promised to devise an Agreement on Trade in Services and Investment soon, which lays a foundation for the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership. ASEAN hailed Japan for its support of the bloc’s central role in regional structures and the bloc’s implementation of a Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity and the Initiative on ASEAN Connectivity. Japan will extend the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund until the end of this year. Both sides will work together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their dialogue relations in Tokyo.
The same day, the sixth Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the third Mekong-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting got underway.