The year under review saw ASEAN moving decisively into a new and higher level of regional cooperation. The landmark event of the year was the Fourth Meeting of ASEAN Heads of Government in Singapore on 27-28 January 1992. the Summit Meeting, various far-reaching and innovative initiatives were launched and new strategies drawn up to guide the future course of ASEAN cooperation. The success of the Singapore Summit underscored ASEAN's readiness and determination to take up the challenges and opportunities presented by the profound international political and economic changes that have occurred since the end of the Cold War.

The Fourth ASEAN Summit was the culmination of many months of painstaking work on the part of ASEAN senior officials in political, economic as well as in functional areas - who were entrusted with the substantive preparation of the Summit. In such h preparation, special attention was devoted to a critical review and appraisal of the full range of ASEAN's cooperative activities, including the restructuring of ASEAN's institutional machinery with a view to enhancing its effectiveness in supporting and strengthening ASEAN cooperation.

The Singapore Declaration of 1992 signed at the closing ceremony of the Fourth ASEAN Summit sets forth the decisions reaches by the ASEAN Heads of Government. It outlines the objectives and plans of ASEAN for the immediate present and charts the future Course of ASEAN cooperation in the post cold war period.

In the area of ASEAN economic cooperation, two momentous steps were taken at the Summit. First was the signing of the Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation by the ASEAN Heads of Government. This consolidates within one document a broad statement on the basic principles, scope and methodology of ASEAN economic cooperation and establishes a firm and broad-based platform for its further enhancement.

Second was the signing of the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by the ASEAN Economic Ministers. This envisages the establishment of an ASEAN Free Trade Area covering all manufactured as well as processed agricultural products within a period of 15 years beginning 1 January 1993 with tariff rates to be brought down ultimately to a range of 0-5%. Further, the Agreement also provides for the comprehensive removal of non-tariff barriers for goods covered under the CEPT scheme. ASEAN's full commitment to the endeavor is marked by the decision of the Heads of Government to establish a ministerial-level Council to supervise, coordinate and review the implementation of the scheme, and further underscored by their identification of fifteen broad groups of products to be subject to accelerated tariff reductions under the Scheme. Steps to set up the ministerial-level Council and to operationalise the CEPT Agreement are currently in progress.

As far as political cooperation is concerned, the process towards a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodia problem showed remarkable progress. This encouraging development was the culmination of various political and diplomatic efforts by ASEAN countries as well as other countries concerned, directed, inter alia, through the Paris Conference on Cambodia in October 1991 and the International Conference on the Reconstruction of Cambodia, Tokyo, in June 1992 with the objectives of realizing lasting peace and forging political commitment for the reconstruction of Cambodia. Significantly, the Singapore Declaration sets forth ASEAN's continued readiness to play an active part in international programmes for the reconstruction of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

In working towards the expansion of regional cooperation, ASEAN has also welcomed the application of Vietnam and Laos to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. To further enhance the status of the Treaty, the ASEAN Heads of Government also agreed that ASEAN should seek the cognizance of the United Nations for the Treaty through such means as an appropriate resolution.

In ASEAN's Dialogue relations significant and satisfactory progress has been achieved in various fields, particularly in the areas of technical and development cooperation. With the elevation of the sectoral Dialogue with the Republic of Korea to full Dialogue status, the number of non-ASEAN participants in ASEAN's Post-Ministerial Conference has now increased to seven. In response to India's approach, ASEAN is presently exploring modalities for the establishment of a sectoral Dialogue with India in the areas of trade, investment and tourism. To make the Dialogues more dynamic and fruitful to all the countries concerned, ASEAN has given much thought to the form and substance of its Dialogue relations with a view to intensifying such cooperative relationships and achieving better results for both ASEAN and its Dialogue partners. To add another dimension to its external relations ASEAN has also agreed to engage in consultative relationships with interested non-Dialogue countries and international organisations. In this respect, China and the Soviet Union were invited as guests of the host country to the 24th AMM. The year under review also marked another three-year rotation of ASEAN country coordinatorship of Dialogues beginning from the PMC of the last AMM.

ASEAN member countries continued to participate and coordinate their positions in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) process with the fundamental objective of sustaining the growth and dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region. The Third APEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Seoul on 12-14 November 1991 and produced, inter alia, a Seoul APEC Declaration on APEC's principles and objectives and an APEC Declaration on the Uruguay Round calling for the successful conclusion of the Round as the most critical economic issue - facing the international community and expressing the firm resolve of all Ministers to show the necessary flexibility in working for its realization.

The East Asia Economic Group (EAEG) proposal was further developed and its concept paper finalized at the Second ASEAN Working Group Meeting held in Singapore from 23-24 September 1991.

The 23rd Meeting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers held in Kuala Lumpur from 7-8 October 1991 considered the EAEG concept paper. Taking into account the views of ASEAN, the AEM agreed to change the "EAEG" into an "East Asia Economic Caucus (EAEC)" without any change to the original EAEG concept. The AEM also agreed to the convening of the EAEC to discuss issues of common concern to East Asia economies and to meet as and when the need arises. Ministers agreed that such a caucus would :

The EAEC was also referred to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the ASEAN Heads of Government. At the 4th ASEAN Summit held in Singapore from 27-28 January 1992, ASEAN through the Singapore Declaration of 1992, recognized the importance of strengthening and/or establishing cooperation with other countries, regional/multilateral economic organizations, as well as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and East Asia Economic Caucus underlying the EAEC proposal and decided that the JCM be mandated to complete the elaboration of the concept of an East Asia Economic Caucus and to recommend a Plan of Action with a view to accomplishing its realization.

Pursuant to the decision of the 4th ASEAN Summit, a Joint Consultative Meeting was held on 19 July 1992. The Meeting requested the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat, as Chairman of the JCM, to study an appropriate modality that would complete the elaboration of the concept of EAEC with a view to accomplishing its realization taking into account the ideas presented at the Meeting as well as earlier discussions held on the matter.

The year 1991-1992 was a milestone in the restructuring of the ASEAN machinery. Recognizing the need for effective machinery to give greater focus and direction to ASEAN's expanding activities, the Singapore Summit agreed on various path-breaking measures to streamline and strengthen ASEAN's organizational structure.

First, the Heads of Government agreed to meet formally every three years and informally in between to give greater direction to ASEAN cooperation.

Second, the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat is to be redesignated as the Secretary- General of ASEAN, appointed on merit with ministerial status, and given an enlarged mandate to initiate, advise, coordinate and implement ASEAN activities. To backstop the Secretary- General's enlarged role, the ASEAN Secretariat is to be strengthened by an expanded professional staff, openly recruited on merit, and more material resources. It is expected that these measures will strengthen the regional perspective in ASEAN cooperation and allow the ASEAN Secretariat to effectively fulfil its envisaged role as ASEAN's central administrative organ.

Third, the present five ASEAN Economic Committees, which have since the Bali Summit of 1976 been entrusted with promoting ASEAN economic cooperation in their respective sectors, are to be dissolved and the Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) tasked to handle all aspects of ASEAN economic cooperation. It is hoped that moving from a decentralized sectoral approach to a more centralized programme and issues oriented approach will impart greater overall thrust and direction to ASEAN economic cooperation.

In short, 1991-92 has been a watershed year for ASEAN. The end of the Cold War has precipitated a dramatically changed world economic and political configuration. While the dust has not fully settled, ASEAN has pondered over its ramifications and, in a historic Summit Meeting, has taken decisive steps to consolidate and expand upon its achievements in open regionalism, and to strengthen its dynamism and relevancy in a profoundly changed and changing global arena.

Highlights of ASEAN's cooperative endeavors in various fields are as follows:

In the field of finance and banking, as a resuit of continuous efforts by member countries to liberalize their respective foreign exchange controls, the use of ASEAN currencies for intra-ASEAN trade and investment has been on the increase. On the ASEAN-Japan Development Fund, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines continued to actively utilize their respective allocations for national projects while efforts are being made to encourage the use of the allocation under the ASEAN-Japan Development Fund for regional projects.

The ASEAN Customs authorities continued to enhance cooperation in customs areas including the up-dating and exchanging of information in various areas such as customs procedures relating to imports and exports and drawback and ware-housing systems, and in the areas of prevention, investigation and repression of customs offences including those involving drug trafficking.

ASEAN tax authorities also continued to consult closely on problems with third countries for the avoidance of double taxation. Collaborative efforts on other tax matters are on going particularly in the area of human resources development.

Exchange of information on insurance statistics continued to provide the vital element in formulating policies for premium policies and other policies by the ASEAN insurance industry. As for the ASEAN Reinsurance Corporation, it continued to demonstrate satisfactory progress in its activities and planned to open branches in member countries.

A new initiative of cooperation in the area of capital market development including further liberalization of the use of ASEAN currencies in trade and investment was agreed by the Fourth Summit, in recognition of the growing importance of the capital market as alternate sources of development financing. To this end, an expert group has been established to identify specific aspects of cooperation in this area.

ASEAN cooperation in the field of Food, Agriculture and Forestry has made significant progress. ASEAN PLANTI continued to develop collaborative activities with various regional and international bodies in the field of plant quarantine, in recognition of the need to set up harmonized standards of plant quarantine to facilitate the commercialization of ASEAN agricultural products and to prevent the entry of exotic pests into the region.

Further progress was also achieved in Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) eradication activities. The ASEAN FMD Study Team had completed a study on FMD status in the four island provinces of the Philippines, namely Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Batanes, and recommended that the above four island provinces be declared as FMD Free Zones. In considering Malaysia's application to declare itself as an FMD Free Zone, an ASEAN study team coordinated by Singapore had been sent to Malaysia in February 1992 to assess the status of FMD in Malaysia.

On ASEAN Standard of Animal Vaccines, the 13th Meeting of AMAF had endorsed ten (10) new standards of vaccines and the revised original eighteen (18) standards of vaccines, to facilitate intra-ASEAN trade and movement of animal vaccines.

On fishery, ASEAN has made significant progress and continued to develop activities with various regional agencies in the field of aquaculture development and resources management. ASEAN-EC Aquaculture Development and Coordinating Program is the regional project that has been in full operation which include environmental study for brackishwater, aquaculture resource management for fisheries in inland water, aquaculture technology, fish and shrimp nutrition and feeds development, as well as fish and crustacean genetic studies.

On forestry, ASEAN expressed the need to continue joint approaches and to work closely with the developed countries in particular the EC, the US and Japan on the issue of the Anti-Tropical Timber Campaigns and to provide technical assistance in the needs of research and development as well as management and conservation of tropical forest. The developed countries were also urged to assume greater responsibility on global environmental protection.

ASEAN also continued to send missions to industrialized countries, including the Indonesian missions led by Minister for Forestry Hasjrul Harahap, to convince these countries of ASEAN's concern on the global environmental issues related to forestry and to emphasize the important role of non-tropical countries on issues related to deforestation, biodiversity and global warming, in order to shift the focus from merely on tropical forest to global forest. The ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry at their 13th Meeting agreed to set up a Special Task Force to review and formulate new policy guidelines for concerted efforts of ASEAN cooperation in food, agriculture and forestry.

ASEAN agreed to despatch ASEAN Ministerial missions on tropical forest to the consuming countries in particular the EC, US, Japan, Canada and Australia. An ASEAN ministerial mission on sustainable tropical forest development visited the EC in October 1990. Both sides agreed to cooperate closely in the areas of forestry research and development, forestry management and marketing of timber products. In September 1991, Indonesia on behalf of ASEAN, despatched a similar mission to North America to establish cooperation with the US and Canada as well as to discuss issues related to forestry including equitable sharing of responsibility and to provide a balanced perspective on the actual tropical forest management practices in ASEAN.

The ASEAN Committee on Industry, Minerals and Energy (COIME) has been active in implementing projects and activities to further promote its area of ASEAN cooperation. In its effort to make the ASEAN Industrial Joint Venture (AIJV) Scheme more flexible and attractive to investors, the Special Meeting of CO[ME held in Bali, September 1991 had an extensive discussion on the Draft Protocol to Amend the Revised Basic Agreement on ASEAN Industrial Joint Ventures (BAAIJV).

The 23rd Meeting of ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) held in Kuala Lumpur, October 1991, further held discussions on amendments to the Revised BAAIJV, particularly, the issue of common effective preferential tariff that should apply to AIJV products. The Meeting agreed that at least 90 percent Margin of Preferences (MOP) be extended to AIJV products so as to achieve a Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) of 0-5 percent. Additionally, the Second Protocol to Amend the Revised BAAIJV shall be initialed by the AEM at its next meeting. The Meeting also endorsed the approval of COIME of 8 AIJV products, and requested COIME to extend the BBC Scheme to include other non-automotive products.

The ASEAN Potash Mining Project (Thailand) has made good progress. The Government of Thailand has sent an application on 28 October 1991 for a loan from the Japanese Government through the Fukuda Fund. The First Meeting with the Japanese officials was held in Bangkok on 18 May 1992. At this Meeting, the Japanese side indicated that an evaluation mission will be sent to

In the field of Energy, the Meeting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers on Energy Cooperation was held in Singapore on 22 August 1991. The Meeting agreed that the Senior Officials on Energy Cooperation should monitor and coordinate the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Enhancement of ASEAN Cooperation in Energy (PAECE). The Meeting also among others had an extensive discussions on ASEAN cooperation in the field of coal, power utilities, new and renewable sources of energy and the ASEAN Petroleum Security Agreement.

The period under review marked the end of the second five-year Integrated Work Programme in Transportation and Communications, and the beginning of a new cooperative programme. The Programme of Action in Transportation and Communications 1992-1996 was formulated and approved by the 21st Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Transportation and Communications (COTAC) in September 1991 and subsequently endorsed by the 23rd Meeting of the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) in October the same year.

The Programme of Action is intended to further advance regional cooperation in transportation and communications, taking into consideration the need to improve the efficiency of the transportation and communications facilities and services to support the growth and development of the ASEAN region, in particular the efficiency of ASEAN trade, tourism and industrial sectors. Projects and activities have therefore been identified and formulated to contribute towards the achievement of the cooperation objective to further enhance regional collaboration in the provision of safe, efficient and innovative transportation and communications infrastructure network, system and services catalytical to the promotion of sustainable regional cooperation of ASEAN.

To achieve the above-mentioned objective, the Programme of Action will emphasize on five major areas of cooperation, namely, Policy; economic and technical studies; institutional building; human resources development; and exchange of information and expertise. The objective of each of the major areas has also been clearly defined.

The improvement and extension of tariff preferences under the ASEAN PTA at the Third Summit in Manila have proceeded. The 1991 programmes were implemented while those of 1992 were confirmed by all member countries.

Measures to improve the PTA have been agreed by the 23rd AEM such as to further deepen the MOP of existing PTA items, to further reduce the items in the Exclusion List and to reduce the ASEAN content requirement. On Non-Tariff Measures, member countries continued to carry out unilateral liberalization of Nabs which contributed towards the improvement of inter- ASEAN trade. Thus far, only two ASEAN member countries have implemented their 1992 PTA program.

In order to enhance further inter-ASEAN trade, member countries agreed to establish the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) within 15 years beginning 1 January 1993. The Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme shall be the main mechanism for the AFTA and the ASEAN content requirement is set at least at 40% under this scheme. Member countries have also identified some 15 groups of products for the acceleration of tariff reductions. In case of products not covered by CEPT scheme, the ASEAN PTA may be used in parallel. In Non Tariff Measures, member countries continued to carry out unilateral liberalization of NTBs which are conducive to the improvement of intra-ASEAN trade.

ASEAN continued to pursue join efforts on international issues affecting trade in commodities, particularly, the growing protectionism through farm subsidies, export subsidies, unfair trade practices, anti-tropical timber and anti-tropical vegetable oil campaign, and better market access for processed products. ASEAN has also been actively pursuing its joint effort towards the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round by 1992.

The Visit ASEAN Year '92 has been officially launched by Heads of States/Governments beginning 1992. The year 1992 was chosen as it commemorates the 25th anniversary of ASEAN. The VAY'92 is intended as a promotional platform to enhance ASEAN viability as an existing tourist destination and designed to develop greater awareness of ASEAN as a regional grouping, to create awareness among citizens of member countries on the importance of tourism and last but not least to further increase visitor arrivals into ASEAN. The ASEAN Tourism Information Centre (ATIC) in Kuala Lumpur continued to play an instrumental role in implementing the campaign activities of the VAY'92 as well as other tourism projects.

The ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST) has made considerable progress towards the development of ASEAN scientific and technological expertise to meet the overall socioeconomic development objective of ASEAN.

The 25th Meeting of the Committee on Science and Technology, which was held in Bandar Seri Begawan on 7-11 January 1992, reviewed the progress of ASEAN cooperation programmes with its dialogue partners particularly on the strategy to commercialize the R & D results in the field of microelectronics, biotechnology and non-conventional energy.

Promising progress was also made in the area of meteorology and geophysics. The implementation of ASEAN-EC workshop on geology and geophysics marked a significant event for COST as it is one of the project proposals under the International Scientific Cooperation/Joint Research Scheme with ASEAN-EC cooperation which is being carried out.

Science and technology cooperation with the Republic of Korea (ROK) was started with the Workshop on the Industrial Use of Biological Engineering of Oceanography being held in Seoul during 21-27 April 1992 under ROK financial support. The workshop marked a milestone of understanding between Science and Technology communities in ASEAN and ROK.

Active preparations are being made to hold the Third ASEAN Science and Technology Week, scheduled on 17-24 September 1992 in Singapore which aimed at promoting greater awareness of current development in science and technology. This serves as a regional forum for scientists, technologist, industrialist, academicians and key government officials.

ASEAN-COST has organized the Fourth ASEAN Food Conference in Jakarta from 17 to 21 February 1992. The Conference with the theme "Development of Food Industries in ASEAN to improve the quality of life" was attended by more than 500 participants comprising food scientists and technologists from ASEAN and non-ASEAN countries.

As in the previous year, ASEAN-COCI continued to play its role in promoting regional cooperation in the fields of culture and information. For financial year 1991/ 1992 COCI allocated some US$2.4 million to finance twenty-five projects and activities. This comes from the ASEAN Cultural Fund which provides, on a continuous basis, funding for ASEAN cultural and information cooperation projects.

The year 1992 was a significant year to ASEAN. It was the 25th Anniversary of ASEAN. Therefore, major projects of ASEAN-COCI were earmarked to commemorate the occasion. It was also Visit ASEAN Year 1992 (VAY 1992) and ASEAN-COCI observed this occasion by organizing activities in support of VAY 1992.

The year 1991 marked the first year of the chairmanship of the ASEAN Committee on Social Development (COSD) by Singapore after it was rotated from the Philippines. It also marked the assumption by the ASEAN Secretariat of the function of COSD-ITS.

COSD had its 16th Meeting on 17-20 September 1991 in Singapore during which it reviewed and monitored the status and progress of its various activities and considered new Activities and projects.

To further promote ASEAN cooperation on health, the ASEAN Ministers of Health held its 4th Meeting on 4-5 December 1991 in Jakarta to discuss ASEAN's problems of AIDS and environmental health. The Meeting adopted the Indonesia's proposal for the Exchange of Health Information in ASEAN with Emphasis on AIDS and Environment. It was also agreed that existing mechanisms such as the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Health and Nutrition could be used for more effective implementation of programmes which have been agreed at the Health Ministers Meeting.

COSD confronted setbacks in funding support for its many projects related to health and nutrition, population, labour, education and natural disasters. On the other hand, it saw the successful completion of a number of projects on youth, and to a certain extent on women.

Despite funding constraints, COSD derives inspiration and encouragement from the reaffirmation by the ASEAN Heads of Government at their Fourth Meeting of their continued commitment to the promotion of social development in the region.

The ASEAN Senior Officials on Drugs (ASOD) had its 14th Meeting on 26-29 August 1991 in Jakarta.

ASOD, despite funding constraints for the implementation of its cooperative projects, continues its efforts to combat the drug menace. During the period under review, at least five projects were successfully carried out.

Even as ASEAN exerts vigorous efforts to fight the drug problem at the national and regional levels, it looks forward to further international cooperation, with the prospects of further cooperation with the EC and the US on drug matters.

The problems of drug abuse and the spread of AIDS were highlighted during the Fourth Meeting of the ASEAN Heads of Government which called for ASEAN to exert greater efforts to combat drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking and to prevent and control and spread of AIDS.

At the Singapore Summit, the ASEAN Heads of Government, agreed that ASEAN should continue to enhance its environmental cooperation, particularly in issues of transboundary pollution, natural disasters, forest fires and in addressing the anti-tropical timber campaign.

As a follow-up of this decision, the ASEAN Ministers responsible for the environment at their Fifth Meeting held in Singapore on 17-18 February 1992, adopted the Singapore Resolution on Environment and Development and the ASEAN Common Stand on UNCED and related issues. ASEAN member countries also took part in the Second Ministerial Conference of Developing Countries on Environment and Development, held in Kuala Lumpur, hosted by the Government of Malaysia, 26-29 April 1992.

It is in ASEAN's interest to ensure that environmental problems resulting from economic activities are kept under control. ASEAN has also initiated several measures to share and exchange information on the prevention and minimization of transboundary pollution.

The Sixth ASEAN Conference on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) was held in Bandar Seri Begawan on 9 to 13 September 1991. The Meeting reviewed the progress of its various activities and discussed several country and technical papers which focused on the course of action for the year 2000 and beyond.

In its effort to further promote ASEAN cooperation in the area of civil service matters, the Meeting also considered and endorsed several project proposals related to leadership and management in ASEAN Civil Services for onward transmission to the 25th ASEAN Standing Committee.

During the year under review, the relations between ASEAN and Australia have registered continuous progress in the areas of cooperation on the environment, telecommunications, education, and science and technology.

The Third Meeting of the AAECP Joint Planning Committee held in Singapore, April 1991, agreed that a Mid-Term Review of AAECP II be conducted. Consequently, the six-member team, three from ASEAN and three from Australia, visited ASEAN member countries during February/March 1992 and discussed the current progress and benefit to achieve of AAECP, the individual ASEAN national development priorities, the ASEAN structure and ASEAN Plan of Action, including the future ASEAN-Australia cooperation. The Report of the Mid-Term Review is expected to be finalized in late 1992.

ASEAN-Canada cooperative efforts had brought results in a number of fronts. Three Memoranda were signed at the last PMC in Kuala Lumpur covering Marine Environment, Solar Dryer and Fisheries Post Harvest II Projects. All these three projects are now well underway.

In line with new initiatives for ASEAN-Canada cooperation which put particular emphasis, among others, in the area of women in development, Canada has agreed to finance a study on family violence and another which will gather statistical indicators on women for macro-planning purposes. Another major component of this programme is the funding of vocational training for women in non-traditional sectors.

The Canada-ASEAN Centre in Singapore continues to play a vital role in facilitating the dialogue process between ASEAN and Canada. Canada also agreed to provide financial assistance amounting to C$ 7 million for the Second Phase of the ASEAN Institute of Forest Management in Malaysia in efforts to enhance further cooperation in the field of development and management of tropical forest.

The need to further strengthen the existing good relations between ASEAN and EC has been recognized by both sides. This is seen from the willingness of both ASEAN and EC to develop a new (third generation) ASEAN-EC Cooperation agreement to cover a wider and deeper scope of cooperation.

On economic cooperation, the Community and its member states welcomed the conclusions reached by the ASEAN Heads of Government at the 4th ASEAN Summit, particularly on the move towards an ASEAN Free Trade Area through a programme of tariff reduction (CEPT). The Community also expressed its readiness to share its experiences in regional cooperation.

In the effort to strengthen management capabilities of ASEAN, the ASEAN-EC Management Centre has already commenced its initial activities since the appointment of the EC consultant to the project in early 1992.

Remarkable progress was also made in the field of development cooperation. The First ASEAN-EC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on Drugs, was held on 4-6 May 1992 in Bangkok, during which it reviewed the status and progress the existing cooperation on drugs matters.

ASEAN and EC have strengthened cooperation in the field of forestry in which the EC agreed to provide financial and technical assistance in the areas of research and development as well as in management and marketing of timber products. Meanwhile, the EC agreed to provide continued financial and technical assistance for the second phase of the ASEAN Timber Technology Centre in Malaysia.

Japan has agreed to extend the ASEAN- Japan Development Fund for another year as from 8 July 1991. As a follow-up of the 12th ASEAN- Japan Forum, Japan had sent a contact mission to ASEAN member countries in October 1991 with the objective of enhancing cooperative efforts in the implementation of the various projects under ASEAN-Japan Development Cooperation as well as to explain Japan's Grant Aid Scheme to ASEAN member countries.

In the field of cultural cooperation, ASEAN and Japan agreed to further strengthen the existing cooperation by having a series of cultural events in 1992 with the view to raising Japanese interest in the region on the occasion of the 25th founding anniversary of ASEAN.

ASEAN welcomed the encouraging developments in trade relations between ASEAN and New Zealand. The increased involvement of the private sector, both in the Dialogue and in the projects under the TIPP, has been useful and instrumental in strengthening the existing cooperation in investments.

At the 11th ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue Meeting recently held on 16-17 June 1992, both sides agreed to establish a Joint Management Committee (JMC) to plan, monitor and review the whole spectrum of the relations.

The current shape and content of the ASEAN-New Zealand Dialogue relations is based on cooperation programmes that focusses on two principal projects, namely the Inter-institutional Linkages Programme (IILP) and the Trade and Investment Programme (TIPP). In addition, both ASEAN and New Zealand agreed to expand cooperation programmes with priority given to cooperative activities in the fields of science and technology and human resource development.

The ASEAN-US Dialogue Meeting has been transformed into a forum for the exchange of views and information on matters of mutual interest, covering regional and international political and economic issues which may have implications to both sides. Development cooperation matters, however, still form part of the agenda of the Dialogue Meeting.

Subsequently, detailed discussions on specific and technical details on economic and trade issues are handled by the Annual Meeting between the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) and the US Trade Representative (USTR), and the Trade and Investment Coordinating Committee (TICC) at senior official's level. The Economic Coordinating Committee (ECC) continued to provide the linkage between the two. The new format of consultative mechanism was made possible by the Memorandum of Understanding on ASEAN-US Relations signed in December 1990.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assistance to ASEAN remained significant. As the ASEAN-UNDP 5th Inter Country Programme (ICP 1992-1997) was about to start, the ASEAN-UNDP Sub-Regional Programme for the 5th Cycle was finalized. This was the result of a programming exercise conducted with the assistance of UNDP.

Two studies suggested by UNDP are note-worthy. The first is the report of the Eminent 5 on the Strengthening of the ASEAN Secretariat. It has proven catalytic in moving ASEAN to increase the resources and enlarge the mandate of the ASEAN Secretariat. The other study provides a programme of economic cooperation for the 1990's to supplement and complement the ASEAN Free Trade initiative.

The Fourth Meeting of the ASEAN-ROK Joint Management Committee (JMC) held in Jakarta on 20 November 1991, set out principles and guidelines for both ASEAN and ROK; and considered several budget proposals for the implementation of projects to be funded under the Special Cooperation Fund.

During the year under review, ASEAN and ROK have registered significant progress in the area of development cooperation. Courses on Value Added Tax for example have given the opportunity to ASEAN tax officials to learn some knowledge and experiences from ROK. ASEAN also benefitted from seminars on the Korean market for jewellery and diamond products for the improvement and expansion of the ASEAN region's jewellery and diamond markets.

Besides development cooperation, transfer of technology and human resources development, the ASEAN-ROK cooperation would also be broadened to social, culture and other possible areas to give further momentum to this dialogue relation.