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East
Asian leaders expected to hold wide-ranging
talks at
ASEAN summit in Brunei next week
BANDAR
SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 29: Brunei Darussalam is to host the
seventh summit of leaders from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) followed by separate
meetings with the leaders of China, Japan and Korea next
week.
The
two-day summit, to be chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haji
Hassanal Bolkiah from November 5 to 6, is the first
working summit since ASEAN leaders agreed in Singapore
last year to remove the distinction between formal and
informal summits in favour of less ceremonial
gatherings.
The
ASEAN leaders are expected to address immediate concerns
to Southeast Asia such as the twin challenges posed by
the global economic downturn and the international fight
against terrorism.
In
dealing with these concerns, the ASEAN leaders are
expected to discuss a wide range of topics such as
responding to longer term challenges, accelerating
regional integration and bridging the development gap.
They are also expected to consider moving beyond
free-trade commitments with far-reaching cooperation in
many areas.
Among
other issues, leaders are scheduled to decide on new
priorities for the Hanoi Plan of Action adopted in 1998.
The six-year roadmap outlining a vision for ASEAN is
subject to a mid-term review this year.
Under
an agreement reached at their summit in Singapore last
year, the leaders will convene a session on HIV/AIDS to
consider an ASEAN Work Program in this area. They are also
expected to declare support for national, regional and
international efforts to address this new priority.
The
ASEAN leaders are scheduled to hold additional talks with
the leaders of China, Japan and Korea on November 5, the
fifth such gathering since the enlarged "ASEAN +
3" summits began in 1997. The leaders are expected to
discuss the global
economic downturn and the international fight against
terrorism as well as a closer East Asian partnership
between ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian countries.
On
November 6, the Southeast Asian leaders will together hold
separate "ASEAN + 1" meetings with each of the
three leaders. The theme of these talks is enhancing ASEAN
cooperation with China, Japan and Korea.
To
finalise preparations for the summit, ASEAN
directors-general and senior officials from all 13 nations
are scheduled to hold talks in Bandar Seri Begawan on
November 2 and 3.
Over
the past year, Brunei has played an active role in
regional diplomacy with His Majesty hosting the Eighth
Meeting of APEC Economic Leaders in November last year. In
May this year, His Majesty and Chinese President Jiang
Zemin jointly hosted APEC’s High-Level Meeting on Human
Capacity Building in Beijing.
Brunei
Darussalam succeeded Viet Nam as chair of ASEAN in July
and is scheduled to host the annual ASEAN Ministerial
Meeting and related gatherings in Bandar Seri Begawan next
year. While Brunei previously hosted the annual meetings
in 1989 and 1995, the meeting next week is the first ASEAN
Summit to be held in the country since it joined the
association upon achieving independence in 1984.
BACKGROUND
Founded
in 1967, ASEAN now groups all ten Southeast Asian Nations
-- Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet
Nam.
This
year's meeting is the seventh in the series of formal
summits held since ASEAN leaders first met in Bali in
1976. Such formal meetings have been held every three
years since 1992, with leaders holding informal summits in
the intervening years since 1996.
At
their second informal summit in Kuala Lumpur in 1997,
leaders from China, Japan and Korea were invited to attend
the gathering which was also a commemorative summit for
ASEAN's 30th anniversary.
At
the third informal summit in Manila in 1999, the "ASEAN
+ 3" leaders issued a Joint Statement on East Asia
Cooperation identifying priorities in areas of shared
interest and concern. These include cooperating in
economic, monetary and financial areas and developing
social and human resources. Other priority areas are
science and technology as well as culture and information.
For
further information, please consult the official summit
website at:
http://www.aseansummit2001.org.bn
or
contact:
Prime
Minister’s Office
ABDUL GHANI Metussin,
Director, Information Department
Tel:
(673-2) 383500 Fax:
(673-2) 383211 Email: infoweb@brunet.bn
Please
direct any other media inquiries to:
Ministry
of Foreign Affairs
Pg.
AZLAN Pg. Haji Tengah Omar,
Assistant
Director (Information Section), Policy Planning Department
Tel:
(673-2) 261177 ext 240 Fax: (673-2) 262030
Email: dpolicy@brunet.bn
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