(VOVworld) – The 20^th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF–20) and the third East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (EAS–3) took place in Brunei yesterday.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh attends the ARF Meeting in Brunei (Photo:VNA)

At the ARF-20, the foreign ministers said ARF should continue promoting its role in fostering the observation of regional principles and standards, enhancing dialogue, building trust, and the peaceful settlement of disputes in strict compliance with international law.

In the context of changes in security in the region and the world, ARF should implement measures to build trust while enhancing preventive diplomacy in line with ARF’s principles and concepts, action plan, and mechanism. The participants highlighted the significance of maintaining peace, stability, security and maritime safety in the East Sea. 

They emphasised that all parties should peacefully settle all differences in the East Sea without using force, in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They applauded the ASEAN-China agreement on conducting official political consultations to build a Code of Conduct at an early date. 

During the EAS-3, the ministers focused on boosting cooperation in high-priority areas like finance, energy, education, epidemics, natural disaster management, and links between ASEAN member nations.

They called for enhancing economic connectivity in East Asia to establish a free trade area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2015.