In their retreat in Phnom Penh on November 18, ASEAN leaders discussed the solutions to speed up the ASEAN Community building, increasing regional connectivity and linkage, and strengthening the group’s external relations and central role.
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The retreat of ASEAN leaders, Phnom Penh, November 18, 2012 - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
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Reviewing the roadmap of the ASEAN Community building, the leaders emphasized that the group should show greater determination and efforts to fulfill all the set plans on time, especially economic ones in order to improve the region’s competitiveness and promote sustainable and equal development.
Information and communication work should be boosted to raise citizens’ responsibilities and contributions to building a people-centered ASEAN Community.
To achieve these goals, member countries agreed to combine and insert regional cooperation plans into their own national programs while enhancing collaboration among competent agencies.
ASEAN leaders underlined that the group should maintain solidarity and its central role in regional cooperation and structure, especially issues relating to ASEAN’s common strategic interests in terms of peace, security and development cooperation.
Accordingly, ASEAN should continue dialogues, build confidence, share standards of conduct, and utilize cooperation tools like TAC, SEANWFZ, and DOC. Besides, the group should boost up cooperation with partners in dealing with non-traditional security issues and emerging challenges like natural disasters, climate change, water security, maritime safety, terrorism, and trans-national crimes.
The leaders agreed that ASEAN will further expand its relations with partners and play an important role in regional cooperation frameworks and processes, such as ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, EAS, ARF, and ADMM+. On this occasion, ASEAN leaders officially kickstarted the negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Mentioning international and regional issues of common concern, ASEAN leaders affirmed their supports to Myanmar’s national reconciliation as well as to a peaceful and nuclear weapon-free Korean peninsula. They also called on relevant parties in the Gaza Strip to stop violence and seek for long-term solutions for peace in the Middle East.
Regarding the East Sea, the leaders emphasized the importance of guaranteeing peace, stability, security and safety; solving disputes through peaceful solutions; respecting international laws, especially UNCLOS; observing the six-point principle on the East Sea and compiling the Code of Conduct (COC) for parties in the East Sea.
At the retreat, Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung delivered an address stressing the construction of the ASEAN Community, the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity; ASEAN’s external relations and central role; and the cooperation in responding emerging challenges.
Accordingly, PM Dung suggested the group mobilize all necessary resources to build the Community.
Especially, the Vietnamese leader mentioned the Mekong cooperation, urging countries in the region to promote cooperation in responding floods and natural disasters, maintaining food security, and proposing long-term solutions for sustainable use of the Mekong River water.
As part of the 21st ASEAM Summit, ASEAN leaders had a dialogue with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) on November 18 in order to promote the private sector’s participation in ASEAN’s economic activities.
In the next two days, ASEAN will have meetings with its partners (China, Japan, Republic of Korea, India and the US).