20TH ASEAN MINISTERIAL MEETING (Achievements)

[Mr Deputy Speaker in the Chair]

Mr S. Chandra Das asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs what were the main achievements of the 20th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting that was held in Singapore in June 1987, particularly with reference to economic relations within ASEAN and dialogue partners.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr S. Dhanabalan): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are satisfied with the outcome of the 20th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and the Post-Ministerial Conference hosted by Singapore last month.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers reviewed the preparations for the ASEAN Summit in December. In particular, they laid the groundwork for agreement on proposals to advance ASEAN economic cooperation. In July, the ASEAN Economic Ministers met in Singapore and agreed on several major recommendations on economic cooperation for the Summit. These recommendations would significantly improve the ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangements and the ASEAN Industrial Joint Venture Scheme. The recommendations are practical, achievable, and will create important new linkages among the ASEAN countries.

In the Post-Ministerial meeting with dialogue countries, progress was made in eliciting Japanese support for ASEAN economic cooperation. The ASEAN countries welcomed a Japanese proposal for the establishment of an ASEAN Development Fund which can finance joint ventures among ASEAN entrepreneurs as well as between ASEAN and Japanese entrepreneurs. Senior officials from both sides will be meeting to discuss the details of the Fund. The Fund will stimulate the flow of investments to the ASEAN countries and increase industrial cooperation among the ASEAN private sectors. The ASEAN Ministers also suggested to the Japanese Foreign Minister measures to make the Japanese domestic market more accessible to ASEAN exports.

In the meeting with the US Secretary of State, Mr George Shultz, it was agreed that senior officials from the US and ASEAN would begin work to arrive at a consensus on the ASEAN-US Initiative. The ASEAN-US Initiative would provide an economic arrangement to protect and advance ASEAN's economic interests with the United States. It could be an umbrella under which each ASEAN country could negotiate more specific agreements with the US.

It has been the practice in the last three years for the 11 ASEAN and dialogue Foreign Ministers from the Pacific region to hold a session for consultations on developments in the Pacific region. We believe that ASEAN should not be inward-looking and must pay more attention to the economic dynamism and rapid political and strategic changes which are taking place in the Pacific region. The discussion among the 11 Foreign Ministers is a unique forum at a high political level. This forum will assume more significance in the years ahead as economic and political trends in the Pacific increasingly affect ASEAN and Singapore.

In all, Singapore hosted a significant and substantive meeting.