Asian leaders explore regional co-op at summit

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-25 17:44

Asian leaders join hands during a group photo session at the 4th East Asian Summit, part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit meetings, held in the southern beach resort of Cha-am October 25, 2009. [Agencies]

HUA HIN, Thailand: The 4th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held here on Sunday, where ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) leaders and their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand met to discuss regional cooperation topics.

The meeting focused on the direction of future regional cooperation and capacity building measures to prepare for various global challenges that affect the region. Political issues concerning Myanmar and the Korean Peninsula were also discussed at the meetings.

The leaders who attended the EAS reiterated their common resolve to accelerate the WTO Doha Round negotiations with the aim of achieving an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Round by 2010, according to the Chairman's Statement of the Fourth EAS.

During the meeting, Japan brought up the topic of building an East Asian community in the long run, while Australia also proposed to establish the Asia Pacific community in which ASEAN will be at its core. The Australian proposal will be further discussed at a meeting later this year.

Meanwhile, the Cha-am Hua Hin Statement on EAS Disaster Management was adopted by the participating national leaders. The Leaders agreed to task their officials and relevant disaster and management agencies to discuss ways to implement measures recommended in the Statement, such as developing integrated preparedness and disaster risk reduction capacities in the region and exploring the possibility of establishing a regional network of disaster response contact points.

The Cha-am Hua Hin Statement on EAS Disaster Management, along with a series documents adopted during the previous ASEAN Plus One Summit and ASEAN Plus Three Summit were signed by senior officials from the Asian nations at a signing ceremony after the Fourth EAS.

Aside from disaster management, the leaders also agreed to step up their efforts to deal with the outbreak of the Influenza A(H1N1) as a new challenge to economic growth and the well-being of the peoples by increasing multilateral collaboration in the fight against this pandemic, including sharing of information, establishing more regional stockpiles of essential medical supplies and assisting one another in acquiring cheaper medicines and pandemic influenza vaccines.

The efforts to enhanced intra-ASEAN connectivity were also discussed during the meeting. The leaders agreed to enhance linkages both within ASEAN, and between ASEAN and its partners in the EAS.

The EAS was part of a series of summit-level meetings related to the 15th ASEAN Summit, which was kicked off on October 23.

Originally arranged to take place in December last year, the fourth East Asia Summit was postponed due to Thailand's political unrest. The Thai authorities later planned to host the summit in April this year, but anti-government protests again forced the cancellation of the meeting. The summit was later rescheduled for October 25 this year.