Secretary-General of ASEAN
at the
Opening Ceremony of the Fourth East Asia Forum
Siem Reap, November 2006
East Asia Integration towards Building East Asia Community: Challenges and Prospects”
His Excellency HOR Namhong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia
ASEAN Ambassadors
Excellencies,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour for me to be here this morning amongst the distinguished guests and participants of the Fourth East Asia Forum (EAF) to deliver my short remarks.
Please allow me to convey my sincere appreciation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to me and the ASEAN Secretariat delegation. I wish to thank the Republic of Korea and International Foundation of Arts and Culture from Japan for their generous support of this EAF.
The present EAF is the Fourth in its series. The participants may recall that the Forum is one of the twenty-six measures recommended by the East Asia Study Group to realise the long-term vision for East Asia cooperation. Since it was established four years ago, the EAF has become an important venue for government officials, academics and business sector to share their views and ideas, and provide policy recommendations to the Leaders of ASEAN Plus Three countries (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) on strengthening of ASEAN Plus Three cooperation, and East Asia integration and community building.
As we all are aware, ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian neighbours have a long history of cultural and trade links. We are bound by geography, complementary interests, shared traditions and values, and common destiny.
The ASEAN Plus Three process, which started in 1997, has gradually broadened to cover 15 areas of cooperation in political and security, economic and finance, and socio-cultural fields, and other tracks, with about 48 established mechanisms. More areas of cooperation, such as minerals, women affairs, poverty eradication and disaster management will be added in the process.
Today, ASEAN Plus Three countries are important trading partners and sources of foreign direct investment. For example, trade volume between ASEAN and the Plus Three Countries have expanded by 16 percent from USD273.1 billion in 2004 to USD317.0 billion in 2005. ASEAN is in the process of negotiating Free Trade Areas (FTAs) or Comprehensive Economic Partnership (CEP) with all Plus Three countries (China, Japan, and ROK). All FTAs or CEP cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment and other areas of economic cooperation.
While regional and global trends toward peace and development are gaining momentum, the region also faces many challenges such as transnational crime, terrorism, avian influenza and other emerging infectious diseases. These challenges pose a serious threat to peace and socio-economic development of the region.
As we live in an increasingly inter-dependent world, it is imperative for us to broaden our horizons to look beyond our borders. No individual country could by itself effectively handle such transboundary concerns.
The peoples of Southeast and Northeast Asian are hard-working and talented. There is a need for us to join hands and collectively respond to the challenges faced by the region, and tap our vast potentials so that we could contribute more to peace and security, development and prosperity, and improvement of living standard of our population.
Given the region’s rich and diverse cultures, extensive human and natural resources, and collective will, there are many opportunities for the countries in the region to work and act as a community.
I am confident that this gathering can lead to the development of more new ideas on East Asia Integration towards Building East Asia Community. Let us add value to the EAF and capitalize on the opportunities coming our way.
I look forward to a fruitful outcome of the Forum and wish you all a successful deliberation.
Thank you.
