Sydney, Australia, 6 September 2007

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies,

1. Let me first congratulate Australia for the successful hosting of the many APEC Meetings to date and take the opportunity to thank Australia for the warm friendship and hospitality extended to ASEAN throughout the year. We wish Australia more success as the APEC Meetings reach their climax with the Leaders’ Meeting this 8th September 2007.

2. In my brief statement, please permit me to brief Ministers on 3 points covering: APEC proceedings, progress in ASEAN with an emphasis on the ASEAN Economic Community and developments between the APEC Secretariat and ASEAN Secretariat.

APEC Proceedings

3. APEC Australia will be remembered for being a short, compact year with many innovations and striking a balance between meeting the new emerging global challenges and APEC’s original focus. It is fitting that a rethink of the process occurs on the shores where the first APEC meeting was convened nearly two decades ago. APEC remains relevant now as it was needed then.

4. This year’s APEC agenda remains substantive and ASEAN will look to it towards the generation of ideas to help with our own initiatives. ASEAN has followed the development of trade facilitation in APEC such as the Single Window customs clearance initiative. Further in recent years, direct cooperation, such as in the area of disaster preparedness and counter terrorism have increased between ASEAN and APEC. ASEAN is pleased to see increased involvement and sharing of ideas in the APEC process.

ASEAN Economic Performance in 2007

5. ASEAN FDI flows reached US$ 52 billion in 2006, an increase of 27% from the previous year and the outlook remains bright for 2007. In addition, total exports for 2006 increased by 16.5% from US$ 650 billion in 2005 to US$ 758 billion in 2006. These positive trends reaffirm ASEAN as a favoured investment destination and a place to conduct business.

 
Developments in the ASEAN and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

6. Despite the credible regional performance in FDI and exports, ASEAN is not remaining complacent. In marking its 40th year, ASEAN is pushing ahead with accelerating the establishment of an ASEAN Community to 2015 and in building a people-centred ASEAN. The AEC Blueprint for realising the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015 was adopted by the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) just over two weeks ago in Manila, the Philippines, and Leaders of ASEAN will sign a declaration to give binding effect to the AEC Blueprint and Strategic Schedule at the 13th ASEAN Summit in November 2007 in Singapore.

7. Going forward, the AEC Blueprint’s implementation will be the main focus of the AEM agenda for the next 7 years. However, even as ASEAN races towards economic integration, safeguards will be in place to ensure no ASEAN Member Country will be left behind. Thus an integral component of the AEC Blueprint will be initiatives on narrowing the development gap to ensure equitable economic development.

8. The rollout of the AEC Blueprint will be based on staggered timelines. Targets for 2009 will cover prioritised actions to be implemented in the very short term. By 2011, other measures already identified in various existing Plans of Action at ASEAN and national levels to give effect to previous commitments are expected to be realised. For the final phase, between 2012 -15, relevant sectoral bodies and stakeholders could come forward with necessary proposals of what can be further achieved to realise the visions of AEC Blueprint.

9. I anticipate that at the upcoming 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore, ASEAN Leaders will further advance ASEAN community building with more clarity of goals, specific actions and practical timelines.  

Plan of Action between the APEC and ASEAN Secretariats

10.  As you are aware, APEC and ASEAN are exploring avenues to strengthen cooperation. This reflects the natural synergies that exist between our Secretariats.

Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, thank you all for your kind attention.