Remarks at the 13^th ASEAN+3 Summit

Ha Noi, Viet Nam, 29^th October 2010

(15:15 –17:15)

- Your Excellency Chairman,

- Your Majesty the Sultan, Excellencies ASEAN Leaders,

- Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am pleased and honoured to participate once again in this ASEAN+3 Summit to review the progress of our past cooperation and set future direction in order to solidify our integration and to tackle together the challenges.  

At the outset, I would like to join other leaders of ASEAN+3 to reiterate that we should continue our cooperation in order to support ASEAN Integration efforts. Indeed, the increased support for the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity is highly critical to materialize the building of ASEAN Community by 2015 and East Asia Community in a longer term. 

The Summit is held in context of post global financial crisis and within the context of the new dynamic regional and global architecture.  In this regard, for future direction of East Asia cooperation, I would like to emphasize the following: (1) accelerate the implementation of the 2^nd Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation and the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan 2007-2017; (2) delineate between the ASEAN Plus Three process and the East Asia Summit; and (3) ensure that the expansion of East Asia Summit should be built upon the existing regional mechanisms and principles of ASEAN centrality. To this end, I would like to express Cambodia’s support for a proposal made by the Republic of Korea to establish “The East Asia Vision Group II” with the view of accelerating the implementation of the 26 ASEAN+3 cooperation and set direction for the future ASEAN+3 cooperation.

The Asian economy is leading the world’s economic recovery through the implementation of effective fiscal stimulus packages, particularly, in ASEAN plus three countries.  All measures that have been taken actually help East Asia to timely and effectively respond to the crisis and avoid disruptive political and social tensions. Nevertheless, we recognize the importance of continuing cooperation aimed at restoring and strengthening the soundness of financial system and maintaining favourable macro-economic policies and strengthening the regional surveillance and economic monitoring capacity for detecting future macro-financial risks and vulnerabilities.

In this context, I am convinced that our regional initiatives such as the Chiang-Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) which came into effect on 24 March 2010 with the total size of USD120 billion and the Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI), endorsed by the ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting on 2 May 2010, are of critical importance for addressing and averting future crises, as well as for promoting regional development. Moreover, we should reiterate our willingness to take part in the global efforts to achieve a more balanced global financial architecture. In this sense, the Plus Three Countries’ support for the regular participation of ASEAN Chair at the G20 Summit is crucial in order to harmonize regional architecture and policies with the new global trends and processes.  

On the trade front, I believe that the coming into force of ASEAN-China FTA, ASEAN-Japan FTA and ASEAN-ROK FTA will be a stepping stone for EAFTA and CEPEA.  In this regard, I am pleased that ASEAN-Japan Center, ASEAN-Korea Center and ASEAN-China Centre have been established. This will facilitate and promote trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges among members. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome ROK’s initiative to organize “the meeting of the ROK-Mekong Foreign Ministers’ Meeting” in order to define our joint cooperation programs.

We all recognize that food security remains a long term and sensitive issue that require joint cooperation from all countries. In this context, I welcome the regional effort to enhance cooperation in the agriculture sector, especially investment in infrastructure, technological transfer and technical assistance in order to improve agricultural productivity. Moreover, to implement the Cha-am Hun Hin Statement on ASEAN+3 Cooperation on Food Security and Bio-Energy Development, I believe that we need to establish a permanent mechanism on ASEAN+3 Emergency Rice Reserve and Regional Rice Reserve.Thank you for your attention!

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