This is the first occasion on which I have had the honour of attending an ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference, I am delighted to be here,

I would like to welcome the Foreign Minister of India China and Russia. India, China and Russia’s move to Dialogue Partner status will add to the PMC’s important role in reviewing regional affairs,

Three decades since its birth, ASEAN has established Dialogue Partnership with ten countries and is looking to include all ten South East Asian countries as full members of ASEAN by the turn of the century. This process serves to entrench habits of dialogue and cooperation and makes a strong contribution to ensuring the economic prosperity and political partnership that has been of such advantage to this region.

Last year, ASEAN agreed to take a more active role in developing the Mekong Sub-region. This initiative, and the decision that it should be implemented in partnership with other interested countries. is welcomed by Australia. Australia constructed the historic Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River connecting, for the first time, Thailand and Laos. During a recent visit to Vietnam, it was my pleasure also to announce that Australia would construct a second bridge across the Mekong River, at My Thuan in Vietnam. Australia looks forward to working with ASEAN and others. towards a vision of an integrated and economically prosperous region, bonded by strong links of partnership and cooperation.

The situation in Burma continues to be of serious concern to Australia. At this time last year, we were all hopeful that the release from house detention of the NLD leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, would lead to the commencement of a dialogue that would allow Burma to begin to move out Of its present unsatisfactory political and economic situation. Our hopes have been frustrated. Instead of new dialogue and compromise, we have seen confrontation and refusal to talk. People Continue to leave the country, fleeing institutionalized abuses of their basic social, economic and political rights,

All States within the region wish to see Burma prosper and participate fully in regional affairs. We have, a mutual interest in trying to find what can best be done to bring about an improvement in the situation. It may be that the international community has only a very limited capacity to influence the situation in Burma, but we should seek to encourage the Burma Government to resolve its differences with the democratic leadership through dialogue rather than confrontation, and we Should urge it to bring its record on human fights into alignment with regional and internationally accepted standards.

There is room for greater cooperation among regional countries on transnational issues such as the trafficking of people and narcotics trafficking, where Australia would like to see more regular coordination of activities between ASEAN and ASEAN Dialogue Partners. One issue with a particularly heavy impact has been the rapid spread of HIV/Aids, By the year 2000 a million individuals will be infected with HIV in Asia each year and a further 500,000 will develop AIDs. Governments of this region should work together more in developing approaches to countering the spread of HIV/AIDs. A start could be made through a meeting later this year of Health Ministers to look at the scope for regional cooperation. ASEAN is well-known for its informal and pragmatic style. I look forward to discussions on these issues, with my colleagues from ASEA.N and other Dialogue Partner countries of ASEAN.