34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, 8th ASEAN Regional Forum and Post-Ministerial Conference - Hanoi, Vietnam, 23 to 27 July 2001

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRESS STATEMENT

Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Law, Prof S Jayakumar will attend the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM), the 8th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the annual Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC) in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 23 to 27 July 2001. Minister Jayakumar will be accompanied by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed and senior officials.

The theme for this year's AMM is ASEAN: United, Stable, Integrated and Outward-Looking. During the AMM, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will review ASEAN's activities over the past year and chart its directions for the year ahead. On 24 July, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will meet their counterparts from the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The meeting will review the progress of the Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation.

On 25 July, the ARF Ministers will consider the adoption of three papers, namely, "The Concepts and Principles of Preventive Diplomacy", "The Enhanced Role of the ARF Chair" and "The Terms of Reference for the Experts/Eminent Persons Register".

At the PMC on 26 and 27 July, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers will meet with their Dialogue Partners to exchange views on regional, international, political and economic issues. ASEAN's Dialogue Partners are Australia, Canada, China, The European Union, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States of America.