ASEAN and Plus Three Countries hold regular dialogue
and consultations at the summit, ministerial, senior
officials and working groups/expert levels to
strengthen and deepen cooperation.
The annual
ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting provides an
opportunity for the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN and
the Foreign Ministers of the People’s Republic of
China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to exchange
views on regional and international issues, review the
state of ASEAN Plus Three dialogue relations, and to
provide guidance and directives regarding its future
direction.
ASEAN Plus
Three countries have cooperated in addressing the
threat posed by terrorism and other transnational
crimes. The first ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on
Transnational Crime Plus Three was held on 10 January
2004 in Bangkok, where the ministers adopted the
concept plan to address transnational crimes in eight
areas, namely terrorism, illicit drug trafficking,
trafficking in persons, sea piracy, arms smuggling,
money laundering, international economic crime, and
cyber crime. Specific work programmes in the
eight areas of the concept plan for joint cooperation.
Have been developed and each of the areas are led by
an “engine country” from ASEAN and supported by
the Plus Three Countries.
Bilateral
trading arrangements between ASEAN and China and ASEAN
and Japan have been established and between ASEAN and
the ROK. These arrangements will serve as the building
blocks for a possible establishment of an East Asia
Free Trade Area (EAFTA) in the near future.
In financial cooperation, a
regional financing arrangement called the “Chiang
Mai Initiative (CMI)” has been put in place. The CMI
consist of an expanded ASEAN Swap Arrangement (ASA)
and a network of bilateral swap arrangements (BSAs)
among ASEAN Member Countries, China, Japan and the ROK.
The ASEAN Plus Three countries are exploring ways to
enhance the effectiveness of the CMI. Under
monetary and finance cooperation, substantive progress
has been made in developing the Asian Bond Market
Initiative (ABMI). ASEAN Plus Three countries
are undertaking efforts to modify existing regulations
to facilitate the issuance of and investment in local
currency denominated bonds under the ABMI.
The 8th ASEAN
Plus Three Foreign Ministers Meeting is scheduled to
be held on 31 July 2007. At this Meeting, the
Foreign Ministers of ASEAN, China, Japan and the
Republic of Korea will also discuss the progress in
the drafting of the 2nd Joint Statement on East Asia
Cooperation and the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work
Plan for 2007 – 2017. The two documents are
scheduled for adoption at the 11th ASEAN Plus Three
Summit on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the
ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation
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