Chairman’s
Statement of the 7th East Asia Summit (EAS)
20 November 2012,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
1. The
7th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 20 November
2012. The Summit was chaired by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN SEN,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Summit was attended by the Heads
of State/Government of the ASEAN Member States, Australia, the People’s
Republic of China, the Republic of India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of
Korea, and the United States of America. The Russian Federation was represented
by its Foreign Minister.
2. We
extended our warmest congratulation to the Honorable Barack Obama on his
re-election as the President of the United States of America for the second
term.
3. We
expressed our deep sympathy and deepest condolences to the peoples and the
Royal Government of Cambodia and especially to His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech
Preah BOROMNEATH NORODOM SIHAMONI, King of Cambodia, and Her Majesty
Queen-Mother NORODOM MONINEATH SIHANOUK, for the passing away of the His
Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah NORODOM SIHANOUK, the late King- Father of
Cambodia on 15 October 2012. We shared our sadness of this great loss with the
people of Cambodia during this mourning period. Cambodia expressed gratitude to
the respective Leaders for sharing condolence to His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech
Preah NORODOM SIHAMONI, King of Cambodia, Queen-Mother, the Royal Government of
Cambodia and the people of Cambodia.
4. We
noted with satisfaction the progress in cooperation in the six priority areas,
namely environment and energy, education, finance, global health issues and
pandemic diseases, natural disaster mitigation and ASEAN connectivity, and also
shared our view on the need to utilize exisiting mechanisms to facilitate the
implementation of the concret project in all the six priority areas for EAS
cooperation. We also reaffirmed the need to further promote cooperation to
support the implementation of ASEAN Connectivity, which will contribute to the
enhanced connectivity in the region.
5. Consistent
with the 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration, we emphasized the role of the EAS as a
forum for strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and
economic issues of common regional concern. We exchanged our views on the
future direction of the EAS, as well as regional and international issues. In
this regard, we encouraged confidence building among the EAS participating
countries and continue the open and frank exchange of views on issues of
strategic importance of common peace, stability and economic prosperity in East
Asia.
6. We
took note with appreciation of the comprehensive outcome of the Second East
Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting which was held in Phnom Penh, on 12 July
2012.
7. We
took note with appreciation the outcomes of the First EAS Economic Ministers’
Meeting which was held on 30 August 2012, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. We recognized
the necessity of striking a balance between the deepening of ASEAN integration
and its enhanced participation to the global supply chain. In this regard, we
stressed the important role of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East
Asia (ERIA) which has been providing valuable inputs to regional efforts
towards East Asian Economic Integration under the three pillars, namely
"Deepening Economic Integration", "Narrowing Development
Gaps", and "Sustainable Development", covering a wide range of
policy areas, such as trade and investment, economic integration, SME
promotion, human resource and infrastructure development, connectivity as well
as energy and environment issues.
8. We
welcomed with appreciation the report of the Royal Government of
Cambodia-ERIA-Harvard Symposium on “Realizing a More Integrated, Competitive,
Equitable, and Resilient ASEAN Community” and the “Phnom Penh Initiatives for
Narrowing Development Gaps”, which set out the key strategies to further ASEAN agenda
to narrow development gaps within ASEAN, both within and between ASEAN Member
States, and amplifies an important element of the Phnom Penh Agenda to Realize
the ASEAN Community by 2015.
9. We
welcomed the Statement of ERIA’s 5th Governing Board Meeting issued on 23rd
June 2012 and its work plan to undertake research and policy recommendations to
enhance community building efforts through consultation, cooperation and
consensus in order to maximize the benefits of integration in East Asia and
bring them closer to ordinary people. We also encouraged ERIA for its continued
support to the Summit activities of ASEAN and East Asia through its research
and policy recommendations.
10. We
recognized the important contribution of mutually beneficial economic partnerships
among the EAS participating countries to the overall growth and development of
the region, especially in light of rapid regional and global developments. We
recognized the importance of all efforts to enhance regional economic
integration toward forming the ASEAN Community. We noted the adoption of the
Joint Declaration on the Launching of the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) Negotiations and the endorsement of the Guiding Principles
and Objectives for Negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
by ASEAN and its FTA Partners.
11. We
took note of the outcome of the 2nd Informal East Asia Finance Ministers’
Meeting which was held on 13 October 2012, in Tokyo, Japan. We expressed our
support for continued finance cooperation in the EAS, and agreed that this
priority area of EAS cooperation should be further developed through
cooperative work.
12. We
welcomed the significant role of the EAS, as a key regional forum bringing
together the world’s most dynamic economies, in support of promoting sustained
economic growth at the regional and global levels. We reaffirmed our commitment
to enhance coordination and cooperation, in close collaboration with regional
and international financial institutions, including the ADB and the IMF. We
also reconfirmed our strong will to further strengthen the cooperation on a
broad range of political, security issues of common interests and concern with
the aim of promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity in East Asia.
13. We
reaffirmed our commitment to avoid protectionist measures affecting trade and
investment. To this end, we intended to refrain from raising new barriers to
investment or trade in goods and services— imposing new export restrictions or
implementing WTO-inconsistent measures in all areas, including those that
stimulate exports, the rollback the trade—distorting or protectionist measure
that may have arisen, and to exercise maximum restraint in implementing measure
that may be considered to be consistent with the WTO provisions but have a
significant protectionist effect and promptly rectifying such measure, where
implemented.
14. We
reaffirmed our commitments under the Declaration of the 6th East Asia Summit on
ASEAN Connectivity, which emphasized not only intra-regional efforts to enhance
ASEAN Connectivity but also shared the importance of expanding connectivity
beyond ASEAN. We encouraged the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee
(ACCC) and its counterparts under EAS to work out the issue of financing
connectivity projects towards realizing the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity
with appropriate support from ADB, ERIA, the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the World Bank.
15. We
expressed our commitment to enhance both bilateral and multilateral cooperation
on disaster management through regional mechanisms, including strengthening the
operationalisation of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance
on disaster management (AHA Centre).
16. We
welcomed cooperation between the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM)
and other EAS participating countries through the on-going discussion on the
linkage between the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency
Response (AADMER) Work Programme (2010-2015) and the Indonesia and Australia
Paper on “A Practical Approach to Enhance Regional Cooperation on Disaster
Rapid Response”.
17. We
expressed appreciation of the U.S. initiative to promote implementation of the
Rapid Disaster Response (RDR) agreement concept among the EAS participating
countries. We encouraged the development of RDR agreements among EAS countries,
on the basis of consensus, in order to speed deployment and acceptance of
international assistance more effectively in response to a large-scale disaster
in the Asia-Pacific region.
18. We
welcomed India’s initiative to host the “EAS India Workshop 2012: Building a
Regional Framework for Earthquake Risk Management” in New Delhi, in November
2012, and took note Delhi Outcome on Earthquake Risk Reduction in EAS
participating countries. We also welcomed Japan’s active contribution to
promote disaster reduction, providing ICT equipment and emergency stockpile
among others to the AHA Centre. We also commended Japan for hosting the “World
Ministerial Conference on Disaster Reduction in Tohoku” in July 2012 in the
disaster stricken area, reaffirming the importance to build resilient societies
and to mainstream disaster reduction in decision making at all levels. We
welcomed the offer made by Japan to host the Third United Nations World
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015.
19. We
took note of the ADMM-Plus Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and
Military Medicine Exercise (AHMX+) to be held in Brunei Darussalam in June 2013
with the participation of all EAS participating countries to enhance
military-to-military interoperability and coordination in a humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief scenario incorporating military medicine.
20. We
appreciated Thailand’s supportive effort in enhancing cooperation on disaster
management by hosting the 21st ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM)
Meeting in Thailand in January 2013, with participation from EAS participating
countries, which can serve as the forum to push various disaster management
related ideas into pragmatic use, and co-hosting with the Republic of Korea,
the ASEAN Regional Forum-Disaster Relief Exercise (ARF-DiREx) in Thailand 2013
to strengthen capacity of the region.
21. We
took note of New Zealand’s intention to arrange a Regulatory Roundtable to
further the goals of the Declaration on ASEAN Connectivity adopted at the 6th
EAS by complementing and building upon existing ASEAN work to advance
regulatory cooperation and to extend the discussion on regulatory/institutional
connectivity to ASEAN’s economic partners. We agreed that an objective of the
Roundtable should be to reinforce and not duplicate regulatory work underway in
other regional fora.
22. We
welcomed the successful convening of the 6th EAS Energy Ministers’ Meeting on
12 September 2012, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, such as commencement of new
research studies by ERIA, and tasked relevant Ministers to strengthen energy
cooperation. We acknowledged the concrete achievements in the area of Energy
Efficiency and Conservation,\ Biofuels for Transport and other Purposes, and
Energy Market Integration. We welcomed the call of establishing efficient,
transparent, reliable, competitive and flexible energy markets as a means to
provide affordable, secure and clean energy supplies for the region. We
expressed appreciation to Cambodia for hosting the Second EAS Energy Efficiency
Conference on 31 July – 1 August 2012. We also expressed appreciation to
Singapore and New Zealand for the organization of the inaugural EAS Energy Market
Deregulation Forum on 23 October 2012, in Singapore. We welcomed the initiative
proposal in setting up an instrument to provide financial support to implement
activities on Low Carbon Growth.
23. We
welcomed the proposal from Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia and the United States to
establish a U.S. – Asia-Pacific Energy Partnership for a Sustainable Energy
Future. This partnership will highlight and enhance collaboration on energy
issues in the Asia-Pacific region by expanding energy engagement and advancing
projects that encourage sustainable economic growth. The Partnership represents
a significant step forward toward a shared, sustainable energy future in the
Asia-Pacific region.
24. We
appreciated the outcome of the First East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership
Dialogue, co-chaired by Indonesia and Japan, in Tokyo, Japan, on 15 April 2012,
and looked forward to the fruitful outcome of the Second Dialogue, to be
co-chaired by Cambodia and Japan in Tokyo, in 2013.
25. We
welcomed progress made at the 3rd EAS Environment Ministers’ Meeting in
Thailand, in September 2012, and looked forward to further work on
environmentally sustainable urban development and climate change adaptation. We
took note of the outcomes of the 3rd High Level Seminar on Environmentally
Sustainable Cities (HLS-ESC) in Siem Reap, Cambodia, on 6-8 March 2012, and
looked forward to the 3rd EAS Seminar on Climate Change Adaptation Capacity
Building, the EAS Forum on New Energy, which will be held in China. We
expressed our appreciation to Australia for the hosting of two seminars on
sustainable cities in Viet Nam and Indonesia, in 2012.
26. With
regard to the problem of poaching of and illicit trade in endangered and
protected wildlife and living marine resources, we welcomed U.S. support in
combating illicit trade in wildlife and agreed to explore future cooperation
through the ASEAN and other relevant regional and international bodies.
27. We
discussed with concern the emerging public health threat of resistance to
antimalarial medicines in the region and acknowledged the significant human
costs, potential impact for regional security and wider economic implications
including for trade and tourism. We adopted the Ddeclaration of the 7th East
Asia Summit on Regional Responses to Malaria Control and Addressing Resistance
to Antimalarial Medicines in which decided to strengthen national and regional
responses to drug resistant malaria and keep progress on this matter under
review in 2013 and 2014. We welcomed Australia’s recent hosting of a regional
conference, Malaria 2012, which reached consensus on the need to promote high
level political leadership and collaboration to control and eliminate malaria
in the Asia-Pacific including addressing drug resistant malaria.
28. We
adopted the Phnom Penh Declaration on EAS Development Initiative and called for
various parties to step up cooperation in this regard. We also expressed our
support with appreciation to China’s proposal to host the 1st Forum on Human
Resources for Health Management Development in Asia-Pacific Region for the EAS
participating countries and welcomed the intention of China to host a track 1.5
International Symposium on East Asia Summit and the Future of East Asia in
2012, in China.
29. We
expressed strong commitment to further strengthen the human resource
development in the region. We welcomed the successful convening of the First
EAS Education Ministers’ Meeting (EMM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 5 July
2012, which adopted the EAS Education Action Plan. We acknowledged the importance
of education cooperation in improving regional productivity and prosperity and
welcomed cooperative projects underway. We welcomed progress Australia has made
on the EAS Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Quality
Assurance Framework, on a feasibility study into an EAS regional facility for
education quality assessment, and on capacity building projects in higher
education quality assurance. We also welcomed the Republic of Korea’s
initiative to work with Australia in developing an EAS Regional Network of TVET
Providers.
30. We
welcomed with appreciation the Brunei Darussalam-US English Language Enrichment
Project for ASEAN as part of their commitment to support capacity building for
the peoples of ASEAN. We looked forward to the new ASEAN Fulbright Scholarship
Initiative for ASEAN in support of scholarly exchange. We also welcomed China’s
proposal to improve cooperation on higher education, especially in bilingual
teaching to promote competitiveness of higher education in the East Asia region.
31. We
welcomed Brunei Darussalam’s offer of scholarships to all EAS participating
countries over the next three years, for a Master of Public Policy and
Management, which allows special focus on Energy and Environment Policy and
Management, at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and includes a semester
of study at one of four leading United States’ universities, which will
strengthen cooperation in higher education and people-to-people linkages amongst
EAS participating countries.
32. We
welcomed Japan’s new youth exchange project, namely “Kizuna Project,” which was
a part of Japanese reconstruction plans and aimed at promoting global
understanding of Japan’s revival efforts in response to the Great East Japan
Earthquake. We emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges,
particularly among the youth and students, with a view to fostering a sense of
togetherness, mutual respect and understanding of each other’s traditions and
values.
33. We
reaffirmed our support for the important role of Nalanda University and
welcomed suggestions on the establishment of other centres of educational
excellence in the EAS countries to improve access to quality education in the
region. We also welcomed the Lao PDR’s contribution of the USD50,000 to support
the revival of Nalanda University.
34. We
reiterated our firm commitment to work closely towards strong, sustainable and
balanced growth and agreed to strengthen our coordination and cooperation on
G-20 related matters, including supporting the continued, regular participation
of the ASEAN Chair at the G-20 and APEC Summits.
35. We
took note and welcomed the positive developments in Myanmar, and we reaffirmed
our support for Myanmar’s Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014.
36. We
noted the signing of the “Phnom Penh Statement on the Adoption of the ASEAN
Human Rights Declaration (AHRD)” and the adoption of the “ASEAN Human Rights
Declaration.”
37. We
shared the view of enhancing cooperation on non-traditional security issues,
including terrorism, narcotics, and transnational crimes such as human
trafficking and people smuggling, that are inextricably linked to strengthening
connectivity. We resolved to deepen cooperation against international terrorism
under the framework of the ASEAN-US Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat
International Terrorism, the ARF statements and its Work Plan on Counter
Terrorism and Transnational Crimes, and the UN Global Counterterrorism
Strategy. We noted the significant achievements in ASEAN over the past several
years in countering terrorist threats and bringing terrorists to justice. We
committed to continue identifying and implementing actions towards this goal.
We also underscored the importance of promoting disarmament and
nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. We
recognized the contribution of the Nuclear Security Summits including the one
held in Seoul in March 2012 in facilitating regional and international
cooperation to combat nuclear and radiological.
38. We
underlined the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean
Peninsula. In this regard, we reiterated that the complete, verifiable, and
irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the Six-Party
Talks is essential not only for the enduring peace and stability in the region
but also for the integrity of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. In
this context, we called on parties concerned to comply fully with their
international obligations under the relevant resolutions of the United Nations
Security Council (UNSC), and to fulfill their commitments under the 2005 Joint
Statement of the Six-Party Talks with a view to achieving long-lasting peace
and stability on the Korean Peninsula. We also emphasized the importance of
addressing humanitarian concerns of the international community. At the same
time, we called for the early resumption of Six-Party Talks.
39. We
welcomed ASEAN Leaders’ commitment to strengthen efforts to combat trafficking
in persons. We also recognized that respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms that allow citizens a voice in how they are governed is key to peace
and stability. We further recognized that these rights are universal in nature,
and we stand ready to continue our shared work of realizing these values for all
persons.
40. We
noted the efforts of ASEAN, the ARF and APEC in addressing cyber security
matters. We also noted the work of the ARF on cyber confidence building
measures intended to build transparency and cooperation in an effort to reduce
risk in cyberspace.
41. We
welcomed progress made in the implementation of the Global Movement of
Moderates (GMM) and agreed to expeditiously identify National Focal Points for
this initiative. We also welcomed the Malaysia- Australia Muslim Youth Leaders
Exchange and called for the convening of similar activities in the future.
42. We
reiterated our commitment to implement consistently the Declaration of the East
Asia Summit on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations, also known as
the Bali Principles, a set of principles, or code of behavior, to guide our
inter-state relations. We reaffirmed that our conducts and activities must
consistently be guided by the Bali Principles, which ensure respect for
international law, promotion of good neighborliness, renunciation of the use or
the threat of use of force, and settlement of disputes by peaceful means. We
realized that through adherence to these principles, we shall further advance
the fulfillment of the East Asia Summit objectives of achieving common
security, common stability, and common prosperity in the region for our
peoples’ benefit.
43. We
welcomed the regional efforts to enhance cooperation in promoting maritime
cooperation in the region including sea anti-piracy, search and rescue at sea,
marine environment, maritime security, maritime connectivity, freedom of
navigation, fisheries and other areas of cooperation. We also welcomed the
positive outcomes of the First Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF) hosted by
the Philippines in October 2012 with the aim to promote dialogue among EAS
participating countries to common challenges on maritime issues. We looked
forward to the convening of the Second EAMF in the future.
44. We
noted with satisfaction efforts toward successful dialogues and cooperation
based on the existing regional structures. We reaffirmed the importance of
regional peace and stability, maritime security, freedom of navigation,
continued constructive dialogue, peaceful settlement of disputes, and respect
for principles of international law.
45. We
noted and welcomed the US’ intention to accede to the Regional Cooperation
Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP),
the first regional government-to-government agreement to promote and enhance
cooperation against piracy and armed robbery in Asia. We took note of the
U.S.-ASEAN Seafarers’ Training Terms of Reference which will enhance joint
efforts by United States and ASEAN to improve counter-piracy training and
education for civilian mariners and to develop best practices and training
programs that will enhance vessel security and ensure seafarers are prepared to
respond to acts of piracy.
46. We
recognized the grave risks posed by proliferation of nuclear, biological, and
chemical weapons, their means of delivery, and related materials expertise, to
international peace and security, and reaffirmed our common vision of a world
without nuclear weapons. We acknowledged that proliferation of these materials
and materials not only threatens the lives of our people, but also could
undermine Asia’s free and robust trade architecture. We discussed the
importance of implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions
addressing nonproliferation and disarmament.
47. We,
State Parties to the NPT, reaffirmed our support for the Action Plan adopted by
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Parties at the May 2010 Review
Conference and the outcomes of their Second Nuclear Security Summit held in
Seoul in March 2012. Further, we confirmed our support for implementation of actions
called for by the Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference in December
2011. Leaders announced their desire to sign and bring into force the
Additional Protocols to Safeguards Agreements with the IAEA. In this regard, we
welcomed the entry into force of Vietnam’s IAEA Additional Protocol and we
committed to universal adoption of the Additional Protocol as soon as possible.
We, State Parties to the NPT, reiterated the importance of a full and
nonselective application and implementation of the NPT's three pillars -
nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear
energy.
48. We
also recognized the critical role of the Mekong Region in all of ASEAN’s
connectivity goals. We welcomed regional and international support for advancing
Mekong sub-regional integration and “narrowing the development gap” within
ASEAN. We also welcomed expanding people topeople ties and emphasizing
public-private cooperation as an essential element of moving the region’s
connectivity vision forward.
49. We
also noted the successful hosting of the 9th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM9) held on
5-6 November 2012 in Vientiane, Lao PDR with the theme of “ Friends for Peace,
Partners for Prosperity”, the Leaders of ASEM partners have exchanged views on
important regional and international issues of common interest and concern,
reviewed cooperation between Asia and Europe and set out future direction of
ASEM process, including the adoption of Vientiane Declaration in order to
strengthen the comprehensive, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation for
peace, development and prosperity in the two regions.
50. We
commended the efforts of Indonesia for hosting the Bali Democracy Forum on 8-9
December 2012, which provided the opportunity to expand and deepen democracy in
the international community.
51. We
recalled the 2010 Ha Noi Declaration on the Commemoration of the Fifth
Anniversary of the East Asia Summit and welcomed the proposal of Brunei
Darussalam to conduct a stock-take review and reflection aimed at further consolidating
and strengthening the EAS on the basis of its established principles,
objectives and modalities and to provide recommendations to the 8th East Asia
Summit.
52. We
looked forward to the convening of the 8th East Asia Summit in Brunei
Darussalam in 2013.
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