The 39th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting (AMM), Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and 13th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) wound up 5-day meetings on Friday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after reaching a consensus on a number of regional and international issues.

The one-day AMM meeting, with the theme of "Forging a United, Resilient and Integrated ASEAN," was attended by foreign ministers from the regional group comprising Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

They discussed a range of issues facing the group, which include the building of the ASEAN Community, regional security and anti-terrorist cooperation as well as international issues

A joint communique issued at the end of the meeting said that ASEAN has made progress in moving towards the realization of the ASEAN Community by the year 2020, based on the three pillars namely the ASEAN Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

"We agreed that it was important for ASEAN to strengthen our integration efforts for all three pillars of the ASEAN Community," the communique said.

The foreign ministers exchanged views during the meeting on how to bring forward the realization of the ASEAN Community from 2015 to 2020 and the possible ways of achieving this objective.

In order to facilitate intra ASEAN travel and also to boost the tourism sector, people-to-people linkages and economic development among ASEAN member countries, the ASEAN foreign ministers signed at the end of the AMM meeting a Framework Agreement on Visa Exemption.

The agreement exempts citizens of ASEAN member countries from visa requirements for a social visit of up to 14 days from the date of entry.

The ASEAN foreign ministers expressed their commitment to intensifying cooperation in various fields with dialogue partners for the mutual benefit of the peoples and region.

On international issues, the ASEAN foreign ministers issued a statement condemning all acts of terror, violence and destruction in the Middle East.

The ministers called for an immediate ceasefire and urged the international community and the United Nations (UN) Security Council to get all parties in the conflict to adhere to the ceasefire under UN supervision with the participation of countries that are able to do so.

The ASEAN foreign ministers also called for resumption of six- party talks to move forward in achieving a peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue.During Post Ministerial Conferences, foreign ministers from ASEAN member states had (10+3) meetings with foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea. ASEAN's 10 members also had dialogues separately with their partners, namely Australia, Canada, the European Union, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States.

They also held PMC 10+10 working lunch which was attended by foreign ministers or representatives from their Dialogue Partners, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Canada, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States.

The meetings discussed regional and international developments, in particular on energy security and disaster management and emergency response.

The ASEAN foreign ministers updated the Dialogue Partners on developments since the signing of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response in Vientiane, Laos, on July 26, 2005 and called upon the Dialogue Partners and other regional and international organizations to assist in intensifying cooperation in this area among ASEAN member countries.

The meeting also agreed to enhance cooperation between ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners in the energy sector including in promoting energy efficiency.

The meetings recognized that focus should be given to the employment of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies of all kinds, and the development of alternative energy sources such as bio-fuel, hydro-electric power, nuclear energy, solar energy and wind energy, using cost effective and environmentally-friendly technologies.

The meetings acknowledged that energy security should be strengthened through interdependence and cooperation to ensure greater access to adequate, reliable and cost-effective energy supply to achieve economic, social and environmental objectives.

The meetings also dealt with the Middle East and Korean Peninsula situation as well as other international issues, and expressed the similar stand as stated in AMM's final communique on these issues.

The Dialogue Partners were updated on the status of ASEAN's efforts towards ASEAN Community Building. They agreed to work closely with ASEAN in providing assistance for ASEAN integration through the Vientiane Action Program (VAP) and the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI).

The Southeast Asian ministers were also joined on Friday for the security-oriented ARF by 26 foreign ministers of participant countries in a meeting to discuss issues of common concern in the Asia-Pacific region as well as international issues with regional impact.

The ministers spoke with one voice in condemning all acts of terror and violence, and they agreed that terrorism should not be associated with any particular religion or ethnic group.

The Ministers expressed support and further called for continued international efforts to enhance dialogue and broaden the understanding among civilizations to prevent the indiscriminate targeting of different religions and cultures.

The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to prevent, suppress and eliminate international terrorism consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and other universally recognized international law.

During the 13th ARF annual meeting, Canada and ASEAN signed the ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism.

On the deteriorating situation and unabated violence in the Middle East, the ministers stressed that a negotiated outcome was the only way to ensure long-term peace, security and stability in the region.

The ministers exchanged views on developments in the Korean Peninsula. They stressed that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is essential in maintaining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, and voiced support for the peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue through dialogue.

The ministers also reiterated their support for ASEAN as the primary driving force of the ARF and encouraged the continued cooperation and contribution of all the ARF participants in moving the ARF process forward to the preventive diplomacy state and beyond, on the basis of consensus and at a pace comfortable to all.

The ministers agreed to ASEAN's consensus on the admission of Sri Lanka as the 27th participant in the ARF, which would be officiated during the 14th ARF.

The ARF, which convened its first Ministerial Meeting in 1994 in Thailand, meets annually in July as part of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting.

In addition to the 10 ASEAN member states, the ARF also include Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Timor-Leste and Bangladesh.

At the conclusion of the current meeting, Malaysia Foreign Minister Syed Hamid announced that 40th AMM/PMC/14th ARF will be held in the Philippines under the chairmanship of that county's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo.

Source: Xinhua