ASEAN+3 Senior Officials Meeting Held in VietnamA meeting of senior officials of 10 ASEAN countries and three dialogue partners of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, (ASEAN + 3 Senior Officials Meeting) was held in Hanoi on Saturday.The meeting reviewed the implementation of the Joint Statement on East Asia Cooperation and the deployment of implementing the decisions made by the summit held between ASEAN countries and these countries in Singapore last November. They also prepared for an ASEAN + 3 ministerial meeting due to take place in Hanoi in July, 2001. The participants of the meeting focused on the exchange of ASEAN + 3 cooperation in preferential areas such as human resource development, cooperation in developing Mekong river basins and ASEAN sub-regions, and information technology. The participants also discussed cooperation in economic, financial, scientific-technological, environmental, agricultural, tourism and cultural sectors They stressed the need for furthering ASEAN + 3 cooperation in narrowing the gap of development among ASEAN member countries as well as between ASEAN and northeast Asian countries. The meeting affirmed that the course of East Asian cooperation,though it has just begun, has made some inspiring progress, thus contributing to peace, stability, and development of each country and the whole region as well. |
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