PM KHAI SPEAKS ABOUT REGIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT AT INFORMAL ASEAN SUMMIT

[Dao Van <daotb@yahoo.com>]

PM KHAI SPEAKS ABOUT REGIONAL SECURITY ENVIRONMENT AT INFORMAL ASEAN
SUMMIT

Ha Noi, Nov.  28 (VNA) -- Prime Minister Phan Van Khai of Viet Nam spoke
about regional security environment at the third Informal ASEAN Summit
held in Manila, the Philippines, on Nov.  28. 

The summit were attended by Heads of State or Government of nine member
countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), namely Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet
Nam and three ASEAN East Asian dialogue partners, China, Japan, and the
Republic of Korea, and the Special Representative of the Prime Minister
of Malaysia. 

The Vietnamese leader said that the past year saw rapid and profound
changes, both positive and negative ones.  Some of the changes were
complicated, threatening regional stability, Khai noted, adding that
peace and cooperation for development remained the main trend in the
region. 

Although signs of economic recovery have been seen in South East Asia,
the Vietnamese leader said, overcoming the aftermath of the
socio-economic crisis and ensuring sustainable development "is not a
simple matter". 

According to Khai, the strengthening of cooperation to ensure economic
security, sustainable and equal development is an important factor
contributing to peace and security in the region. 

The accomplishment of the idea of grouping all 10 South East Asian
nations into ASEAN has created a development landmark for the region,
significantly contributing to regional peace, stability and development,
PM Khai noted.  He affirmed that the fulfilment of the Ha Noi Plan of
Action and other decisions approved at the sixth ASEAN Summit in Ha Noi
last year would cement the solidarity among and make ASEAN member
countries stronger. 

The Vietnamese leader stressed that ASEAN will benefit more by enhancing
cooperation with other parts of the world, particularly its dialogue
partners, in the interest of peace, security and development. 
Therefore, the dialogue mechanism of ASEAN and China, Japan, the RoK
(ASEAN + 3) and each of the latters
(ASEAN + 1) was an
important move toward that trend. 

Khai stressed that the maintenance of a peaceful and stable environment
in the region is a prerequisite condition for cooperation and
development.  There remained, however, some spots of concern such as the
Korean Peninsular, the East Sea, and East Timor, and the threat of an
armed racing.  That situation increasingly affirmed the value of the
basic principles in international relations such as respect for
independence, sovereignty, non-interference into internal affairs of one
another, refraining from the use of force or threatening to use force,
solving conflicts and disputes by peaceful measures through negotiations
and cooperation among concerned parties.  The Vietnamese leader added
that the recent developments in the region and the world required the
strengthening of confidence-building measures, the promotion of mutual
understanding and trust, and striving together to build a world order
based on the fundamental principles in international relations. 

He continued to say the situation in the East Sea remains a common
concern in the region as it directly affects regional peace and
stability.  It is encouraging that negotiations on this issue have been
regularly conducted through various channels.  Such negotiations should
be maintained to promote mutual understanding and trust among concerned
parties.  A Code of Conduct in the East Sea is an important
confidence-building measure (CBM), significantly contributing to
regional stability and creating a favourable condition for finding out a
basic and long-term solution for disputes in the East Sea, Khai noted. 

Therefore, he added, Viet Nam holds that a such Code of Conduct should
be soon formed as decided and approved by concerned parties at the sixth
ASEAN Summit. 

Khai also noted that the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) has made active
contributions to regional security, particularly to accelerating
negotiations and cooperation.  He asked the ARF to continue its CBMs
with ASEAN playing a key role at the forum. 

In his opening speech, Philippine President J. Estrada put stress on
strengthening dialogues with three ASEAN partners - China, Japan and the
Republic of Korea (RoK) in many fields and aspects, and said that ASEAN
countries and other countries in the region need to exert further
efforts to promote stability and peace in the East Sea. 

At the Summit, the participants expressed pleasures at ASEAN member
countries' economic recovery, with an average growth rate of 2-3 percent
in 1999 as compared to a minus 7-percent increase in 1998.  The figure
is expected to reach 4-5 percent in 2000. 

The ASEAN leaders dealt with consolidating the solidarity and
cooperation among member countries; the implementation of the Ha Noi
Plan of Action and the ASEAN Vision 2020; as well as the acceleration of
the ASEAN Free Trade Area
(AFTA) and development
programmes and IT application in ASEAN countries. 

They agreed to strengthen cooperation for peace, stability in the
region, with the aim of facilitating for economic recovery and
development. 

Leaders of the 13 countries released a joint statement on East Asia
cooperation on Nov.  28, recognizing the fact that this growing
interaction has helped increase opportunities for cooperation and
collaboration with each other, thereby strengthening the elements
essential for the promotion of peace, stability and prosperity in the
region. 

The joint statement recalled the decision of the Leaders of ASEAN,
China, Japan and the RoK at the sixth ASEAN Summit in Ha Noi in December
1998, stressing the importance of holding regular meetings among them
and determination to enhance this dialogue process and strengthen
cooperation with a view to advancing East Asian collaboration in
priority areas of common interest and concern, particularly as they look
to future challenges. 

Later on the day, they had a dialogue with representatives from major IT
companies, IT managers and researchers to identify IT development trend
and its role in the life, business and economic development in ASEAN
countries. 

They passed a programme on IT infrastructure development of ASEAN,
affirming that IT is a key for ASEAN success in the 21st century. 

Earlier, a joint meeting between ASEAN ministers for foreign affairs and
economy was held, adopting a decision to spend USD 100,000 as
fundamental capital for a "special force" on "electronic ASEAN" and map
out a plan to establish an ASEAN
"electronic space" to facilitate
the spread of IT application.--VNA



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