Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday joined the leaders of ASEAN, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, India and New Zealand for the fifth East Asia Summit (EAS) in Hanoi, Vietnam.
East Asia is vital to Australia's political, economic and strategic interests. The members of the summit represent half the world's population and over a third of its GDP.
The Prime Minister said the summit was an important forum to discuss political and economic issues of common concern with the aim of promoting stability and economic prosperity in the region.
Leaders discussed a range of transnational threats and reaffirmed their commitment to combating people smuggling, including through the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking and Related Transnational Crime.
The EAS leaders formally agreed to expand the EAS group to include the United States and Russia and welcomed the participation by the US Secretary of State Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov as guests at the forum this year.
The inclusion of the United States and Russia in the EAS is a major development in regional architecture and something Australia has worked hard to achieve to help bolster the region's influence.
The leaders supported ongoing work to reform international financial institutions including the recent move by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to reform the IMF to give greater weight to emerging and developing economies.
The Prime Minister said the leaders were in agreement of the need for national reconciliation in Burma and the importance of free and fair elections.
The situation in Burma is an important focus for Australia, including the need to release all political prisoners ahead of the elections.
The Prime Minister announced a number of new initiatives funded from the official development assistance budget, as part of Australia's contribution to the summit's objective to improve regional development and integration. These included:
* $32 million to combat emerging infectious diseases and pandemics in the Asia Pacific.
* $10 million for disaster response initiatives.
* 7,500 Australia Award scholarships for students from EAS countries to study in Australia over the next four years.
* The creation of an Australian Chair of Ecology and Environment Studies at the Nalanda University, which is currently being built in India as a regional centre of learning. The Australian Chair will undertake regional research into environmental issues particularly in the areas of climate change and natural resource management.
Following the East Asia Summit, the Prime Minister co-chaired a special Australia-ASEAN Summit meeting with the leaders of the 10 ASEAN countries.
At this meeting the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the Australia New Zealand ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the continued need for regional discussions in the areas of finance, climate change, development assistance, education and disaster management.
The Prime Minister announced several new initiatives to help promote human rights and development in the region including:
* $132 million towards improved infrastructure in the Greater Mekong Subregion
* $10 million to support the International Labour Organisation to reduce the exploitation of labour migrants.
* Training support for the new ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights.
While at the summit the Prime Minister also took the opportunity to hold a number of bilateral meetings with other regional leaders including the Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao, the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of Lao People's Democratic Republic Mr Bouasone Bouphavanh and the President of the Republic of the Philippines Benigno Simeon C Aquino III.
The Prime Minister also had an opportunity to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of Secretary Clinton's visit to Melbourne on November 7-8, 2010 for AUSMIN.
The Chairman's Statement of the East Asia Summit can be found at http://asean2010.vn/asean_en/news/36/2DAA01/Chairmans-Statement-of-the-…