2.      The Meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs of Brunei Darussalam, H.E. Dato Paduka Haji Abidin bin OKP Abdul Rashid; the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare of Indonesia, H.E. lr. H. Azwar Anas; the Vice President of State Planning Committee of Lao People's Democratic Republic, H.E. Mr. Somphong Mongkhonvilay; the Minister of Rural Development, Malaysia, H.E. Dato' Annuar Haji Musa; the Deputy Minister for Progress of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs of Myanmar, H. E. Mr. Kyaw Tin; the Ambassador of the Philippines in Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Jose S. Brillantes; the Minister for Community Development of Singapore, H.E. Mr. Abdullah Tarmugi; the Deputy Minister of Interior, Thailand, H.E. Mr. Chaiyapak Siriwat; the Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, H.E. Mr. Ngo The Dan, and their respective delegations. H.E. Dato' Ajit Singh, Secretary-General of ASEAN and members of his staff were also in attendance. H.E. Mr. Ngy Chanphal, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Rural Development Cambodia also attended as Observer.

3.      The Honourable Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, in his opening address highlighted the following:

1. The success in rural development and poverty eradication in the ASEAN region is remarkable and unprecedented and done through the combined role and determination of the Government, the people and the private sectors, with affirmative pragmatic policies, prudent financial management and growth expanding policies but we need to strike balance between market forces and the Government.
   

2. He further reiterated the need for care, for the environment if the wealth created is to be meaningful for a humanising efforts in development and to consider the negative environmental impact.
   

3. Governments must be courageous to change age-old positions - to learn to work together and to learn from each other

4.      His Excellency Dato' Annuar Haji Musa, the Minister of Rural Development, Malaysia, in his Welcoming Remarks during the Closed Session, highlighted the following:

The need for an ASEAN permanent forum to discuss rural development and poverty eradication within the region becomes more pertinent as:

1. There was little emphasis on collaborative efforts for rural advancement and poverty eradication, although it is widely recognized that there is disparity between the urban and rural sectors;
   

2. a progressive and dynamic rural sector can contribute to and accelerate the pace of the development of an entire nation, towards the growth of the region;
   

3. as there is an immense need of a permanent forum to discuss rural development and poverty eradication within the framework of ASEAN especially in the wake of the new millennium for growth and equity for growth in the region

5.      His Excellency Dato' Annuar Haji Musa, the Minister of Rural Development, Malaysia and H.E. Ir. H. Azwar Anas, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Republic of Indonesia were unanimously elected Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Inaugural Meeting of ASEAN Ministers on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication.

6.      The ASEAN Ministers On Rural Development and Poverty Eradication adopted the vision on eradicating poverty, with particular emphasis on promoting the development of progressive, prosperous, and self-reliant rural communities, and thus contributing towards creating a caring society in the ASEAN Member Countries. Towards this end, the Meeting agreed to adopt the Framework for the ASEAN Plan of Action on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication with the objective of formulating strategies, implementing programmes and projects and carry out activities to realise the vision.

7.      The strategic thrusts in achieving the objectives of the Plan of Action will be, among others, as follows :

1. developing human resources as a means to empower individuals, families and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups to cope effectively with the challenges of modernisation and globalisation;
   

2. developing Capacity for policy formulation and programme implementation;
   

3. promoting the sharing of experiences, training resources, best practices and information;
   

4. promoting the sharing of experiences, training resources, best practices and information;
   

5. encouraging the active participation of the private / business sector and the empowerment of the non-governmental/people's organisations,
   

6. Promoting networking among the national and regional rural development/poverty research institutes of the ASEAN Member Countries;
   

7. promoting collaboration with other relevant regional and international organisations; and
   

8. promoting the development of common positions on matters related to rural development and poverty eradication among ASEAN Member Countries.

8.      The Meeting also adopted a Programme of Action to address the following priorities:

1. developing an ASEAN capacity for monitoring and assessing poverty incidence and trends focusing on developing a common set of comparable socio-economic indicators documenting poverty, particularly in the rural areas, to facilitate the development of regional poverty reduction targets; and strengthening the capacity of national statistical agencies to develop management information systems for rural development and poverty eradication;
   

2. facilitating regional networking among the rural development and poverty research institutes, non-governmental/people's organisations and private / business sectors;
   

3. sharing of information, best practices, lessons learnt, research capacity and exchange of technical expertise points in areas such as managing internal population migration; micro-finance and rural credit; formal and non-formal education; small and medium industry development; household/family-based economic sector; transfer of relevant, high-productivity technologies, including information technology; promotion of innovative approaches to the delivery of pre-school education and child care. Initiatives to curb the rising trend of social problems; safety nets for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; community development and sustainable rural development policies, which include the protection of the environment; and rural infrastructure operation and management;
   

4. developing regional training programmes on priority areas identified in the Programme of Action;
   

5. developing a regional rural volunteer programme; and
   

6. promoting greater public awareness on the need to accelerate rural development and poverty eradication.

9.      To strengthen and coordinate ASEAN collaboration on rural development and poverty eradication and to implement the Plan of Action, the Ministers agree to meet at least once in two years and informally in between. The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication who will meet at least once a year will plan, coordinate, .monitor and evaluate the implementation of policies and programmes. They shall also initiate actions to operationalise priority projects and activities under the Plan of Action, initially for a period of five years. In this regard the Ministers agreed that an Experts Group Meeting be held on 17-18 December 1997 in Yogyakarta to identify priority projects and to develop an implementation workplan.

10.     The Ministers agreed to hold their Second Meeting in the Philippines in 1999 and their first Informal Meeting in Indonesia in 1998.

11.     The Ministers expressed their deep appreciation to the Government and people of Malaysia, particularly the Honourable Dato' Seri Anwar lbrahim, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, for his keynote address. They also expressed their sincere thanks to His Excellency Dato' Annuar Haji Musa, Minister of Rural Development, Malaysia for the warm hospitality extended to the Delegations and the efficient arrangements made for the Meeting.