Cambodia to Boost Economic Integration with East Asia Summit

Written by DAP NEWS -- Saturday, 24 October 2009

(Posted by CAAI News Media)

The upcoming East Asia Summit will offer financial support to train human resources and financial experts for Cambodians to work with the East Asia countries, a press release from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) obtained on Saturday said.

“We thank Indian, Chinese and Australian experts in finance and economy for sharing experience with Cambodia on financial matters and strengthening capacity building to work with other countries in East Asia,” Keat Chhon, MEF minister, said in his speech.

Margaret Adamson, Australian ambassador to Cambodia, said Aust- ralia is working with ASEAN countries to help them benefit from the East Asia summit. All of the countries from this region, or those who are G20 members like Australia, must help ASEAN countries, she added. “We see the Australian opportunities for East Asia summit countries, which includes ASEAN countries plus China, India, Japan, South Korea and Australia, play a very important role in the wake of the global economic downturn,” she said.

“We see a very great opportunity for East Asia summit countries to have a strong impact on the global agenda for management of financial cooperation and economy and trade cooperation. We are of course a very long standing partner and friend of the countries in this region, of course including Cambodia. And we see that we need capacity building in least developed members of this region in terms of the development of strong financial services and regulatory arrangements, including of course in securities institutions.”

Australia supports the pilot capacity building program for financial institutions in Cambodia, she said, “and we have been enlarging work very closely with the ASEAN secretariat on these issues.”

“I believe financial ministers will meet each other to strengthen the cooperation in region and in East Asia summit has many other meetings including trade and environment ministers,” Adamson said. The Cambodian financial system needs to be strengthened, she added.

The 4th East Asia Summit is to be held on October 24-25 in Thailand during the ASEAN Summit. Coope- ration in five key areas – energy, edu- cation, finance, avian influenza and national disaster mitigation – will be reviewed.

The East Asia Summit will comprise the 10 ASEAN countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, India, China, Japan and South Korea. The 16-member grouping was established in 2005 in Kuala Lumpur. The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum for dialogue on broad strategic, political and economic issues of common interest and concern with the aim of promoting peace, stability and economic prosperity in East Asia.

It claims to be an open, inclusive, transparent and outward-looking forum, which strives to strengthen global norms and universally recognised values with ASEAN as the driving force working in partnership with the other participants of the East Asia Summit.

The First East Asia Summit was held on December 14, 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . It was attended by the Heads of State/Government of ASEAN countries, Australia, China, India , Japan, South Korea and New Zealand .

The First India-ASEAN Summit was held in 2002 in Phnom Penh in Cambodia. The meeting in Thailand will review the progres in the growth of the relationship, which began with the launch of India’s “Look East Policy” in 1992.

In his statement, Indian Prime Minister said yesterday that India’s engagement with the 10-nation ASEAN was at the heart of its “Look East” policy.