PRESS RELEASE ON THE MEETING BETWEEN THE HON. DATO’ SRI ANIFAH HAJI AMAN, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, MALAYSIA WITH THE HON. ALBERT DEL ROSARIO, SECRETARY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, 20 JULY 2012
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Y.B. Dato’ Sri Anifah Haji Aman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs met with H.E. Albert Del Rosario, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines today, 20 July 2012. The meeting was held at the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines in Manila.
The two Ministers discussed ways and means of how ASEAN could move forward after the recent 45th ASEAN Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) failed to adopt a Joint Communique, for the first time in ASEAN’s history. This was due to the lack of consensus on how best to reflect recent developments in the South China Sea in the Joint Communique.
The Ministers agreed that this development needs to be put in perspective. While consensus was not achieved on this particular issue, consensus was achieved on many other issues contained in the other 131 paragraphs of the Joint Communique. Many of these paragraphs are action-oriented and will contribute towards the realisation of ASEAN Community by 2015, which is still ASEAN’s primary and overarching aim.
In this connection, the Ministers also agreed that ASEAN must work closely together to achieve the goal of establishing an ASEAN Community by 2015. Malaysia will play a particularly important role in this regard, as it will be chairing ASEAN in 2015.
It was also agreed that ASEAN should continue to maintain its unity and coherence. In this regard, they supported the issuance by Cambodia, as Chairman of ASEAN, of `ASEAN’s Six-Point Principles on the South China Sea’, which was an initiative of Indonesia. They noted that the Six-Point Principles represented the broad outlines, rather than specific elements, of ASEAN’s position on the issue. They also agreed that further measures should be taken to amplify the fact that ASEAN continues to remain united, coherent and ready to play a positive and constructive role in international affairs.
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
MALAYSIA
20 July 2012