ASEAN to get in sync with partners

ASEAN to get in sync with partners

The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

In their bilateral summit with the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday, the leaders of China, Japan,
South Korea and India, expressed their support for the Bali
Concord II as a solid platform to achieve an ASEAN Community
based on political-security, economic and sociocultural
cooperation, the summit chairperson President Megawati
Soekarnoputri said on Wednesday.

The four dialog partners also told the 10 ASEAN leaders they
were ready to support the regional group in countering terrorism
and other forms of transnational crimes, as well as the
establishment of ASEAN economic integration. They are also
committed to participating in the establishment of an Asian Bond
as an alternative for regional financing and the efforts on
containing and preventing SARS, HIV/AIDS and other communicable
diseases.

"The leaders (also) discussed several important issues such as
the nuclear question on the Korean Peninsula, the future of East-
Asian Cooperation, poverty alleviation, human resources
development and the development of infrastructure for ASEAN
integration," President Megawati stated as she read from her
prepared speech after presiding over four separate sessions with
the dialog partners.

The President described the summit with Chinese Prime Minister
Wen Jiabao as productive. During the meeting ASEAN and China
expressed their hope that the existing disputes between some
ASEAN members and China on the issue of the Spratly islands would
be resolved by peaceful dialog.

"We also agreed to continue consulting on China's intention to
accede to the Protocol to the Treaty on the Southeast Asia
Nuclear Weapons Free Zone," said the President.

"We observed that political and security cooperation between
ASEAN and China had matured over the years. We agreed to further
enhance ASEAN-China relations and partnership to strengthen trade
and investment, technical cooperation, cultural and social dialog
to promote stability and prosperity in the region."

In the ASEAN-Japan Summit, the leaders agreed to promote a
comprehensive economic partnership and to engage in security
cooperation in fighting terrorism, the fight against piracy and
cross-border issues.

"We agreed that partnership between ASEAN and Japan had
contributed to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-
Pacific region," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN leaders did not sign any formal agreement
with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun. President Roh briefed
his hosts about the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula and
the next round of Six-Party Talks on the nuclear issue.

"We hoped that the next round of talks would be held soon to
maintain the momentum for dialog, and that the ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF) could be utilized as a forum to discuss this
particular issue, since the parties are members of ARF," the
President emphasized.

The last summit session was held with Indian Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee, where he proposed further cooperation in
agriculture, biotechnology, human resources development and agro-
processing. The leaders also agreed to set up a working group on
agriculture.

"ASEAN leaders expressed satisfaction at the rapid development
of ASEAN-India relations and cooperation within a short period of
two years as an ASEAN dialog partner," the President concluded.