In remarks opening the 4th ASEAN-UN summit meeting on Saturday morning, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the ASEAN Chair said the Joint Declaration would be a document calling for activities in line with the Bali Concord III.
The Bali Concord III is a declaration of the ASEAN member countries to play a bigger role in the global community and help solve problems in Southeast Asia through peaceful means.
The ASEAN leaders signed the Bali Concord III or Bali Declaration document on the first day of the 19th ASEAN Summit here on November 17, 2011.
According to Yudhoyono, ASEAN and the UN can establish cooperation in the eradication of poverty, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and tackling the climate change impacts trough the Bali Road Map.
"Nowadays, the world is facing various global challenges. ASEAN and the UN, as organizations having similar visions must intensify constructive cooperation. This is in fact the reason for forging a comprehensive partnership between ASEAN and UN," Yudhoyono said.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the United Nations and ASEAN had been close partners for a long time, and their fourth summit marked a milestone in their collaborative path.
"We will be adopting a `Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership between ASEAN and the United Nations`," Ban Ki-moon said.
"This Declaration will set the stage for even more concrete and active cooperation. It will build on previous instruments, in particular the Co-Chairs` Statement of last year`s ASEAN-UN Summit in Ha Noi," he added.
ASEAN was set up in 1967 and groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, The Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
