1. The Third Meeting between the Foreign Ministers of ASEAN and the Foreign Ministers of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea was held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on 30 July 2002. The Meeting was chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam.
2. The Foreign Ministers exchanged views on regional and international issues affecting the region and noted that the overall security environment in the region remains stable despite existing challenges. The Foreign Ministers renewed their commitment to work together to meet those challenges, especially in promoting peace, stability, and economic progress in the region. The Foreign Ministers were also briefed on the latest situation in the Korean Peninsula.
3. The Foreign Ministers were determined to consolidate their joint efforts to counter terrorism and recalled the support of the Northeast Asian partners to carry out cooperation as outlined in the 2001 ASEAN Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism at the 7th ASEAN Summit in November 2001 in Brunei Darussalam. The Foreign Ministers welcomed the proposal by China for an ASEAN + 3 Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime.
4. The Foreign Ministers reviewed the progress of the implementation of the Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation and follow-up actions to the decisions of the ASEAN + 3 Summit in Brunei Darussalam, in November 2001. The Foreign Ministers expressed satisfaction that the cooperation between ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian countries has been progressing very well in the economic and financial areas, particularly in the implementation of the Chiang Mai Initiative and the bilateral swap arrangements (BSAs). The Foreign Ministers were also pleased with the progress made in other areas of cooperation, including in agriculture, tourism and labour.
5. The Foreign Ministers also agreed to regularise the ASEAN + 3 Directors General Meeting as a coordinating mechanism to ensure coherence, efficiency and progress of ASEAN + 3 process.
6. The Foreign Ministers welcomed Prime Minister Koizumi’s Initiative for Development in East Asia (IDEA) and looked forward to the IDEA Ministerial Meeting to be held in Tokyo on 12 August 2002. The Foreign Minister also welcomed the initiative of Thailand in inaugurating the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Bangkok on 18-19 June 2002.
7. The Foreign Ministers expressed satisfaction on work being undertaken by the East Asia Study Group in coming up with a practical number of concrete measures for cooperation among the ASEAN + 3 countries as well as the study on the implications of an East Asian Summit.
8. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers expressed their appreciation to China, Japan and Korea for their support to the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), in particular, in the areas of human resources development, information technology and the ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Cooperation (AMBDC). In this regard, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers also welcomed the participation of China, Japan and Korea to the IAI Development Cooperation Forum (IDCF) to be held in Jakarta, on 15-16 August 2002.
