PRESS RELEASES

The Informal Meeting between ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee and Non-ASEAN East Asia Summit Participating Countries on ASEAN Connectivity

November 25, 2013

    The first Informal Meeting between ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC) and Non-ASEAN East Asia Summit (EAS) Participating Countries on ASEAN Connectivity was held on 13 November, 2013, in Bali, Indonesia. As an EAS participating country , Japan attended the meeting with its delegation headed by H.E. Mr. Kimihiro ISHIKANE, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN, followed by officials of Mission of Japan to ASEAN. From the ASEAN side, H.E. Ms. Tutiaty Abdul Wahab, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Brunei Darussalam participated in the meeting as the Chair of ACCC, and other ACCC members, which included many Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States to ASEAN, and related officials from the Member States as well as the ASEAN Secretariat attended the meeting. From other EAS participating countries, many Ambassadors to ASEAN and senior diplomats also attended the meeting.

    The meeting was held to update the outcomes of follow-up activities for the EAS 　Declaration on ASEAN Connectivity which was adopted at the 6th East Asia Summit in 2011, and to deliberate on further cooperation activities to implement the Declaration. In the meeting, there were reports on (1) developments in the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, (2) outcomes of the EAS Regulatory Roundtable held this July, and (3) the Study on Financing Modalities and PPP by the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) . The meeting also discussed on (4) Australia’s proposal on establishing an EAS Connectivity Forum. There was an active discussion among the members regarding the deliberation on future direction of consultation and cooperation between ACCC and EAS Participating Countries on Connectivity, including next steps. The participants shared the importance of initiating the strengthening of the EAS-wide regional Connectivity cooperation, having in mind how to tackle the new policy challenges related to Connectivity, especially for the challenge of strengthening institutional connectivity.

    It is expected that as ASEAN continues to develop further, the external ties with neighboring countries will become stronger. Thus, it will become increasingly and mutually beneficial for ASEAN and for Japan to deepen their consideration on carrying out regional Connectivity cooperation under the EAS framework which involves more countries in the region. In this regard, Japan is expected to contribute to the strengthening of regional Connectivity within EAS by working together through close and continuous dialogues with ASEAN and EAS Member Countries.