(Eagle News) – Senior foreign affairs officials of the Philippines and of the other members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) recently gathered in Manila to discuss preparations for the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings set this November.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Enrique Manalo chaired the meetings, which will also consider the logistic preparations for the Summit.
The ASEAN senior foreign officials gathered at the Philippine International Convention Center from October 11 to 13.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is convening the Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) to deliberate on the proposed outcome documents to be adopted or issued by the ASEAN Leaders during their Summit in Manila in November.
The JCM is a cross-sector body composed of Senior Officials from the Ministries in charge of foreign affairs, economy and socio-cultural affairs of the ASEAN Member States.
The ASEAN foreign officials also met to discuss and finalize the arrangements and outcome documents for the forthcoming ASEAN Plus Three (APT) and East Asia Summits (EAS) this November.
The APT Preparatory Senior Officials’ Meeting reviewed the status of the implementation of the East Asia Vision Group (EAVG) II recommendations in the following areas:
– promoting connectivity in East Asia;
– promoting good governance, rule of law, and human rights;
– East Asia community building;
– strengthening public health service;
– network of East Asia universities;
– water management;
– strengthening people-to- people connectivity; and
– poverty alleviation among others.
This year marks the 20th year of the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation. Heads of State and Government will adopt the Manila Declaration on the 20th Anniversary of APT Cooperation at their Commemorative Summit in November to chart the future direction of APT cooperation.
Likewise, APT Leaders will adopt the APT Leaders’ Statement on Food Security – a vital regional issue that the Cooperation aims to address alongside global issues such as climate change, overpopulation, land degradation, and other issues on the environment.
Manalo also chaired the East Asia Summit (EAS) Preparatory Senior Officials’ Meeting, where officials discussed the preparations for the 12th East Asia Summit on November 14. They also reviewed the progress in the negotiations of proposed outcome documents that will be considered by EAS Leaders in Manila.
Included among these documents is the proposed Manila Plan of Action which builds upon the current one that will expire at the end of 2017.
The Plan of Action will provide action lines for cooperation in a number of areas among the ASEAN and its eight East Asia partners – Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, and the United States of America.