President Aquino Joined ASEAN Leaders in Signing Kuala Lumpur Declaration

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — President Benigno S. Aquino III on Sunday joined his regional counterparts in signing the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Community which will be launched on December 31.

The declaration of the establishment of the ASEAN Community is one of the highlights of the 27th ASEAN Summit held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Other leaders who signed the declaration were Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan O-Cha and Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The 10 leaders also signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the ASEAN 2025: Forging Ahead Together. This is the region’s post-2015 vision which charts the direction of the ASEAN Community in the next 10 years.

The signed documents were then presented to ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh of Vietnam.

The ASEAN Community is the realization of the vision of the ASEAN leaders for the regional grouping to build and achieve community status by 2015.

By issuing the declaration, the ASEAN leaders reaffirmed commitment to the ASEAN Charter, which reflects our desire and collective will to live in a region of lasting peace, security and stability, sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and social progress. They also noted the significance of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and other key ASEAN instruments in maintaining a peaceful and stable region, which contributes to ASEAN Community building.

The leaders also recognized the efforts and significant achievements in the implementation of the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community (2009-2015) comprising the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprints, as well as the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan II and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.

They expressed confidence that the realisation of the ASEAN Community has set a milestone in the integration process and will ensure lasting peace, security and resilience in an outward-looking region, with economies that are vibrant, competitive and highly integrated and an inclusive community that is embedded with a strong sense of togetherness and common identity.

The declaration also underlines the leaders’ aspiration towards establishing a truly rules-based, people-oriented, people-centered ASEAN Community where our peoples continue to participate in and benefit fully from the on-going process of ASEAN integration and community building.

They also pledged continued commitment to the on-going process of ASEAN community building, including an ASEAN Community’s post-2015 vision, guided by the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter. (PCOO/jm)