HIS MAJESTY ATTENDS THE 1st EAST ASIA SUMMIT
IN KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIa
14
December 2005 - His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei
Darussalam attended the 1st East
Asia [ EAS ] Summit held at the
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre [KLCC].
Accompanying His Majesty was His
Royal Highness Prince Mohamed
Bolkiah, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Trade.
The first EAS brought together
leaders from ASEAN, Australia,
People's Republic of China, India,
Japan, Republic of Korea and New
Zealand. It was chaired by YAB Dato
Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime
Minister of Malaysia. The leaders
attended the meeting to map out the
EAS agenda and exchanged views on
regional and international issues
and how the EAS would function as a
regional process.
At the inaugural of the Summit, His
Majesty saw a sense of
"togetherness" in Asia in the
political, economic and security
matters.
YAB Dato Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Prime Minister of
Malaysia welcoming His Majesty the Sultan
and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam
upon arrival at the Conference Hall 2 to
attend the inaugural East Asia Summit (EAS)
at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
His
Majesty the Sultan and Yang
Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam join
leaders from ASEAN countries and
their counterparts from Japan,
China, South Korea, India, Australia
and New Zealand at the the inaugural
East Asia Summit (EAS) meeting of
the 11th ASEAN Summit at Kuala
Lumpur Convention Centre.
Leaders in a group photo at the inaugural
East Asia Summit (EAS) of the 11th ASEAN
Summit at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
[
From Left ] H.M. the Sultan and
Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei
Darussalam, H.E. Hun Sen, Prime
Minister of Cambodia, H.E. Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, President of
Indonesia, H.E. Bounnhang Vorachith,
Prime Minister of Laos, H.E. Roh
Moo-hyun, President of South Korea,
H.E. Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime
Minister of India, H.E. John Howard,
Prime Minister of Australia, YAB
Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
Prime Minister of Malaysia, H.E. Wen
Jiabao, Prime Minister of China, H.E.
Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of
Japan, H.E. Helen Clark, Prime
Minsiter of New Zealand, H.E. Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, President of the
Philippines, H.E. General Soe Win,
Prime Minister of Myanmar, H.E. Lee
Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of
Singapore, H.E. Thaksin Shinawatra ,
Prime Minister of Thailand and H.E.
Phan Van Khai, Prime Minister of
Vietnam
His
Majesty hopes to work closely with
all members of East Asia Summit
countries
At the summit’s retreat, His Majesty
congratulated Malaysia for hosting
the inaugural East Asia Summit. His
Majesty noted that Malaysia had been
instrumental in bringing about this
historic gathering. His Majesty
further stated that the setting up
of the East Asia Summit was a
logical and strategic development of
many regional processes such as
ASEAN, ASEAN Post-Ministerial
Conference, ASEAN Plus Three
Cooperation and the ASEAN Regional
Forum. In this context, His Majesty
stated that EAS would define itself
over time and help shape the future
of the region.
His Majesty felt that the EAS should
take a modest and flexible approach
so that everyone would feel
comfortable with each other. His
Majesty further explained that the
EAS should begin as a forum where
all parties could enhance dialogue
amongst themselves and work closely
together, reach common understanding
and share responses in matters of
strategic interest.
EAS
to focus on more strategic issues
covering political, economic and
development areas
With regard to the subjects to be
discussed by the EAS, His Majesty
stated that the EAS might wish to
focus on broader, more strategic
issues, covering political, economic
and development areas. His Majesty
said that a comprehensive approach
was required in looking at these
subject matters. This was because in
the last twelve months, the region
had witnessed major natural
disasters, environmental problems,
the continued threat of terrorism,
escalating oil prices, the onset of
infectious diseases and a host of
development concerns.
His Majesty further stated that for
these problems to be managed
effectively it was important for all
concerned to work very closely
together right across the region and
even beyond. His Majesty also
emphasized the necessity of the
collective action that could be
achieved by working together with
close friends, neighbours and
partners.
His Majesty then suggested that, in
the long term, the EAS could also
gradually consider more substantive
cooperative activities covering
political and economic areas. His
Majesty also suggested that the EAS
must offer confidence to the people
as the overall well-being of the
region was not only defined by
political and economic concerns but
also increasingly in terms of human
security.
In this context, His Majesty felt
that the EAS could also contribute
to overall peace and prosperity in
the region as essentially this was
about closer cooperation in all
areas, complementing and adding
value to the work done by ASEAN, the
ASEAN Plus Three and other regional
processes. His Majesty further added
that every effort should be taken to
assure everyone that this summit was
open and outward-looking and was
aimed at promoting international
peace and stability with the basis
of ensuring that it was the people
who should benefit from the summit.
Finally, His Majesty expressed his
appreciation to partner countries
for the confidence placed in ASEAN
and added that ASEAN looked forward
to working and consulting closely
with colleagues in ensuring the
success of the EAS.
