ASEAN Secretariat, 14 June 2008

Following a meeting with the Brig. Gen Maung Maung Swe, Minister of Social Welfare of Myanmar in Yangon today, the Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan informed that he was given an assurance by the Minister that the Guiding Principles on foreign assistance recently issued by the Government of Myanmar would not hamper the relief efforts of the ASEAN-led coordination mechanism.

Dr. Surin hoped that this would address some concerns that have been raised by international community with respect to relief, recovery and rehabilitation in Myanmar.

The guidelines essentially outline the procedures that the UN agencies, international organisations and NGOs have to follow in carrying out aid and assistance activities for the Cyclone Nargis victims.

During his one-day visit to Yangon, Dr. Surin also met with the members of Tripartite Core Group (TCG), chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Kyaw Thu. The TCG consists of two other senior officials from the Government of Myanmar as well as representatives from ASEAN and the UN. The ASEAN Secretary-General updated the TCG on the ASEAN Roundtable for Response, Recovery and Reconstruction, which will be convened on 24 June 2008 in Yangon.

Dr. Surin further emphasised that the Roundtable would include participants from all potential donors and partners to ensure that there is greater ownership and buy-in by the international community of the findings of the Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Report which is expected to be published in mid July 2008. The Roundtable would also help further build confidence on the ASEAN-led initiative in Myanmar.

Following the Roundtable, the 3rd ASEAN Humanitarian Task Force Meeting will be held to discuss the next steps following the publication of the full report of the Joint Assessment. This could include the possibility of a 2nd Pledging Conference and the setting up of the appropriate mechanism to manage and coordinate medium to long-term recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.