Press Release on the Outcome of the Commonwealth Ministerial Task Force Meeting, London, UK, 14-15 June 2012

PRESS RELEASE

OUTCOME OF THE MEETING OF THE

COMMONWEALTH MINISTERIAL TASK FORCE

14-15 JUNE 2012, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

Y.B. Dato’ Sri Anifah Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia led the Malaysian delegation to the Commonwealth Ministerial Task Force Meeting (MTF) from 14 to 15 June 2012. The MTF was established by the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia in October 2011. The mandate of the MTF was to consider the draft charter of the Commonwealth, and to review further the 44 recommendations made by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on the Commonwealth.

2.            The leaders at CHOGM 2011 have agreed for the establishment of a Commonwealth charter by end of this year as proposed by the EPG, embodying the principles contained in previous declarations, that is not legally binding.

3.            The members of the MTF are the Foreign Ministers of Australia (Chairman), Malaysia, Barbados, Belize, Canada, India, , Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, South Africa and United Kingdom.

4.            The MTF discussed in detail the draft charter of the Commonwealth prepared by the Commonwealth Secretariat incorporating various comments and inputs from member countries. Malaysia is pleased with the outcome of the discussion on the charter, and the MTF have agreed to include ‘moderation’ as an important value of the Commonwealth, and will be reflected in the charter under sub-heading on “Tolerance, Respect and Understanding”.  This reflects that the Commonwealth and the global community as a whole endorsed YAB Perdana Menteri’s initiative on the Global Movement of Moderates.

5.         The revised draft charter will be further considered and discussed at the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministeral Meeting at the margin of the United Nations General Assembly on 29 September 2012 in New York, United States of America. The charter of the Commonwealth will be adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of Government by end of of this year on a non-objection written procedure.

6.      The MTF also discussed in detail the 44 EPG recommendations and agreed to adopt most of the recommendations (30) either in its totality or with some comments, or subject to availability of resources. About 14 recommendations, among others, on CHOGM, Commonwealth Youth Programmes, Commonwealth Foundation, were not considered or deemed inappropriate since they were overtaken by events.

7.     On recommendations to increase resources for capacity building on development, and to make available increased resources to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC), not all member countries were agreeable to increase their contribution to the Fund due to financial constraint. The Meeting welcomed Malaysia’s proposal  that the responsibility of providing technical assistance should not be put solely on the Commonwealth Secretariat, and urged member countries to do its part to increase technical assistance to other member countries. For example, Malaysia may increase its allocation to Commonwealth member countries for its Technical Cooperation Programme (Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme-MTCP).

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust

8.     Malaysia fully supports the noble initiative by the Commonwealth in establishing the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust launched in February 2012 to mark Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 60^th Anniversary as the Head of the Commonwealth.

9.        Malaysia believes that the Trust which aims to support charitable projects and organisations across the Commonwealth, focusing on areas such as tackling communicable diseases, education and culture, and other Commonwealth priorities will give an enduring impact to the people of the Commonwealth. As part of Malaysia’s desire to provide a valuable contribution to this noteworthy initiative, Malaysia has pledged to contribute USD 1 million towards the Trust.

10.      The Government of Malaysia has appointed YBhg. Dato’ Sri Mohd Nazir Abdul Razak, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Group, as Malaysia’s representative and advisor to the Trust. 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Putrajaya

15 June 2012