Timor-Leste chairs the 12th Southwest Pacific Dialogue Meeting, at Myanmar
The 12th Southwest Pacific Dialogue Meeting, chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Timor-Leste, José Luís Guterres, took place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on August 9th. At the same time took place also the 47th Ministerial Meeting of ASEAN and the 21st Regional Forum of ASEAN.
Present at the meeting were also: the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, Julie Bishop, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Marty Natalegawa, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of Papua New Guinea, Rimbink Pato and the Undersecretary for Political Affairs of Philippines, Evan P. Garcia and the representative for New Zealand in the senior officials’ meetings, Alison Mann.
The Ministers congratulated the Government of Timor-Leste for conducting the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), last July, by highlighting that Timor-Leste may establish the connection between ASEAN and the CPLP, by broadening partnership and connectivity between both regional blocks.
One of the conclusions from the meeting was the intention of giving priority to two of the main areas of cooperation: the connectivity (air and maritime connections) and issues related to the sea (which include protected areas and ecosystems), having the participants highlighted the importance of the promotion of the dialogue on maritime security and defence, aiming to fight illegal activities and reinforce trust amongst the countries of Southwest Pacific Dialogue. “ASEAN has played an extremely important role in maintaining peace, stability and regional security”, referred the Minister José Luís Guterres.
At the meeting was also highlighted the role of the Pacific Islands Forum onto the strengthening of Cooperation for Development in the Pacific region. Another important issue of the meeting was the acknowledgement of the framework proposal of the “Triple Action Plan”, from the Philippines, as an important step towards peace and stability in the China Sea.
The participants commended and congratulated the people and the Government of Indonesia on the peaceful way on which the recent parliamentary and presidential elections occurred. At the end of term of office, the yet President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was praised for his leadership in promoting democracy, human rights, the rule of law, responsibility, partnership and cooperation amongst the countries of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue.
In the end, the Ministers thanked Timor-Leste for chairing this meeting and greeted the availability of Papua New Guinea for organizing the next meeting.
