The two documents signed in Hanoi on 30 April formally admitted the Kingdom of Cambodia as the 10^th member of ASEAN and paved the way for the Kingdom of Cambodia to integrate with the mainstream ASEAN as well as with the rest of the world, especially in the liberalization of trade, services and investment.

At the ceremonies in Hanoi, the first document signed by the Cambodian Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and ASEAN Foreign Minister was the Declaration on the Admission of the Kingdom of Cambodia into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In the document, the 10 Foreign Affairs announced that the Kingdom of Cambodia shall be a Member State of ASEAN from 30 April 1999 and that the Kingdom of Cambodia agreed to subscribe or accede, as the case may be, to all declarations, treaties and agreements in ASEAN.

More importantly, the Declaration also declared that from the date of its membership, the Kingdom of Cambodia shall :

• Extend on a reciprocal basis the most favoured nation (MFN) treatment to ASEAN Member States;

• Extend the national treatment on products of ASEAN Member States imported into the Kingdom of Cambodia; and

• Ensure transparency in its trade regime on goods and services.

The Kingdom of Cambodia has had no difficulty or reservation in agreeing to the above principles, which are similar to what the World Trade Organization (WTO) will require from the Kingdom of Cambodia to qualify for WTO membership. Cambodia is now an observer in the WTO, just like Laos and Vietnam.

The second document was signed only by H.E. Mr. Hor Namhong, the Cambodian Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. With this document, the Kingdom of Cambodia acceded to 27 ASEAN agreements. Specific conditions in the accession to three major economic cooperation agreements were as follows:

Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA)

• 10-year implementation time frame starting on 1 January 2000;

• Phasing in products in the Temporary Exclusion List in five equal installments beginning on 1 January 2003 and completing on 1 January 2007, and ending at the tariff rates of 0-5% by 1 January 2010;

• Phasing in agricultural products which are temporarily excluded on 1 January 2004 and completing on 1 January 2010 at 0-5%;

• Phasing in sensitive agricultural products beginning from 1 January 2008 but not later than 1 January 2010 and ending on 1 January 2017 at 0-5%;

• Maximizing the number of its tariff lines with tariffs between 0-5% by 2007 and expand the number of tariff lines in the 0% category by 2010; and

• Submitting the various products lists for the CEPT Scheme to ASEAN by 30 June 1999.

ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services

• According unconditionally from the date of accession to the Agreement to services and service suppliers of any other ASEAN Member State treatment no less favourable than that it accords to like services and service suppliers of any other country;

• Exceptions to the above could be given up to the year 2005 provided that measures favouring certain countries have been in existence before the accession; and

• Submitting a package of concessions to the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Singapore in September 1999 so as to enjoy concessions from the initial and second packages of commitments negotiated by the nine Member States.

Framework Agreement on the ASEAN Investment Area

• Having up to five years after its accession to the Agreement to maintain existing measures that are inconsistent with the Agreement with regard to opening up of industries and according national treatment to ASEAN investors;

• Phasing out all items on the Temporary Exclusion List by no later than 2010 for ASEAN investors, which is the same commitment made by Laos and Vietnam in the Statement on Bold Measures made by the ASEAN Heads of State/Government made in Hanoi on 16 December 1998; and

• Extending special privileges to qualified investors in the manufacturing sector whose investment promotion applications are received from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2000 in accordance with the short-term measures to enhance ASEAN investment climate in the Statement on Bold Measures.

The signing of the admission documents started at 3:15 p.m. on 30 April at Hanoi Daewoo Hotel. After the documents were signed, H.E. Prof. S. Jayakumar, the Foreign Minister of Singapore, handed them over to H.E. Mr. Rodolfo C. Severino, Jr., the Secretary-General of ASEAN, for deposit at the ASEAN Secretariat.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers then made their respective statements, after that the Cambodian Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Cambodia shall make his. (See individual statements attached.)

Then a group photograph of the 10 ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General followed to mark the historic event. After that it was the flag-raising ceremony in the hotel courtyard. The Director-General of the ASEAN General Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia, handed over the national Cambodian flag to the Secretary-General, who in turn shall hand it over to the Vietnamese guards of honour. The Cambodian national flag was raised to join the flags of other ASEAN Member States and the ASEAN flag while a Vietnamese military band played the national anthem of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

After the ceremonies, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General pay a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Phan Van Khai, Prime Minister of Vietnam at the Government Guest House.

In the evening, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Manh Cam hosted a dinner in honour of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General of ASEAN.

On 30 April, the ASEAN Secretariat also organized ceremonies, including raising the national Cambodian flag and unveiling of the national crest of the Kingdom of Cambodia, to welcome the Kingdom of Cambodia as the 10^th Member State of ASEAN.

The statement of the ASEAN Secretary-General read at the ceremonies is also attached.