East Asia summit concludes
New Zealand was pleased to have taken part in the inaugural East Asia Summit on an equal footing with its regional neighbours, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today.
The summit, which concluded in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, was attended by Prime Minister Helen Clark and Leaders from the 10 Association of Southeast Asia Nation (ASEAN) countries, ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) and Australia, New Zealand and India.
Winston Peters attended a pre-summit Foreign Ministers meeting to lay the groundwork for the leaders’ meeting. A key focus of the meeting was to finalise the East Asia Summit Declaration, signed by leaders yesterday.
Mr Peters said the summit had been successful and would continue through future meetings to contribute to developing an East Asia community.
More: nbr.co.nz
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The leaders of 16 nations which included the core ASEAN group have also decided to help each other in promote development, financial stability, energy security, economic integration and to narrow the development gap through technology transfer and removing infrastructure bottlenecks.
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East Asia Summit ends with high optimism
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During the summit, two declarations were signed by the member of 16 nations: the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, and the Avian Influenza Prevention, Control and Response.
The 16 nations include the 10 members of ASEAN, India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the summit as a 'historic
East Asia Summit a get-together of countries whose economic ties will grow: MM Lee
Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has described the forthcoming East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur as a get-together of countries that believe their economic and cultural relations will grow over the years.
In a wide-ranging interview with the TIME magazine, Mr Lee says the inaugural East Asia Summit next week will be a restoration of two ancient civilisations -China and India.
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Sino-Indian war over East Asia
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16-country Asia council formed at summit
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A 16-country group to focus on economic, security and political concerns in Asia will include India, Australia and New Zealand.
The council came out of the first East Asia Summit Wednesday, but the specific goals of the group are still unknown, The Washington Post reports.
It expands the traditional 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and another group which includes China, Japan and South Korea.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia, where the East Asia Summit took place, said the decision to include the three was unanimous.
However, he said the
