ASEAN+3 work to elevate cooperation
Foreign Ministers from 10 ASEAN member nations plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea gathered at a meeting in Vientiane, Laos on July 26 to seek ways to raise the ASEAN+3 cooperation to a new height.
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During the 17th ASEAN+3 Ministerial Meeting under the chair of host Foreign Minister Saleumsay Kommasith, participants spoke highly of the ASEAN+3 cooperation since its establishment in 1997, particularly in finance and food security.
The delegates welcomed the Chiang Mai Multilateralisation Initiative (CMMI), the establishment of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), the Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI), and the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF), saying that they have continuously enhanced the security of the regional financial network, thus stabilising the regional economy.
Regional food security has also been ensured with the implementation of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR), the ministers underlined.
They also reaffirmed the significance of the ASEAN + 3 mechanism in promoting regional peace, stability and development and called on stakeholders to continue implementing the Work Plan for the 2013-2017 period and the recommendations of the East Asia Vision Group (EAVG) II to elevate the mechanism’s cooperation.
The participants expressed their strong support for the host’s initiative on the ASEAN + 3 draft announcement on promoting sustainable development, to be ratified at the ASEAN +3 Summit slated for September in Laos.
