The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr George Yeo, will lead the Singapore delegation to the 39th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), the annual Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC) and the 13th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 24-28 July 2006.
The theme for this year's AMM is "Forging a United, Resilient and Integrated ASEAN". The ASEAN Foreign Ministers will review the progress of ASEAN's activities over the past year and chart new directions for the year ahead. The Ministers will discuss key issues including the acceleration of the ASEAN Community from 2020 to 2015. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers will meet individually with six of their ten Dialogue Partners: Australia, Canada, The European Union, New Zealand, Russia and the United States. They will discuss the intensification of ASEAN's relations with its dialogue partners, as well as exchange views on regional and international issues. During the PMC+1 meetings, the Framework Document for the Plan of Action to Implement the US-ASEAN Enhanced Partnership and the ASEAN-Canada Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism will be signed.
The Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN+3 process will meet to chart the future of ASEAN+3 cooperation. The Foreign Ministers of the East Asia Summit (EAS) countries will meet over lunch to discuss the development of the EAS.
The ARF Ministers will exchange views on developments in the region. They will also adopt three ARF Statements: ARF Statement on Cooperation in Fighting Cyber Attack and Terrorist Misuse of Cyber Space, ARF Statement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, and ARF Statement on Promoting a People-Centred Approach to Counter-Terrorism.
The Foreign Ministers of ASEAN will sign the Instrument of Extension to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia.
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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
23 JULY 2006
*The ASEAN Foreign Ministers will meet their counterparts of the other four Dialogue Partners of China, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea during the ASEAN Summit in Cebu, the Philippines, in December 2006.