Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong,

Fellow Colleagues,

 

It gives me great pleasure to attend the Meeting of Heads of State/Government of ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (10+3) again. Please allow me to extend my thanks to the Singapore Government for the thoughtful arrangements it has made as the host of the meeting.

 

Since the beginning of this year, East Asia's economy has maintained a momentum of steady recovery. The overall economic performance of the countries hit by the financial crisis has taken a turn for the better, thanks to their hard efforts and drastic readjustments. Many of these countries have witnessed a higher-than-expected economic growth. People have once again seen the great vitality and potential of East Asia's economy.

 

Positive progress has also been made in the political situation in East Asia. With the joint efforts of both the DPRK and the ROK, the peace process on the Peninsular has made a historic breakthrough. We sincerely welcome and support this development. The situation in the South China Sea has been moving towards stability, and the drafting of the "Code of Conduct in the South China Sea" has made significant headway. This is a strong indication of the consensus and resolve of the relevant countries to solve differences through dialogue and consultation.

 

At the same time, however, there still exist some destabilizing factors in the region. The East Asian developing countries are still under enormous pressures and their economic, scientific and technological disparities with developed countries are still widening. International oil prices remain high with no signs of going down, exerting still greater pressure on many countries in their pursuit of economic recovery and growth. The East Asian countries still find themselves at a disadvantage in the training of professionals and scientific and technological innovation. For these countries, to maintain their national security and accelerate their economic development will remain arduous tasks for a fairly long time to come.

 

In today's world, economic globalization is gaining momentum, modern science and technology are advancing with each passing day, industrial restructuring is gathering speed, and the international competition is intensifying. In this connection, the East Asian countries must maintain a fairly fast economic growth if they are to solve their economic and social problems.

 

The Joint Statement on East Asia Co-operation issued at the last 10+3 meeting is an important document marking the process of East Asia co-operation, which points the way forward and identifies the priorities for co-operation. Over the past year under the guidance of the Joint Statement, progress has been made in areas of finance, human resources development, trade and economic co-operation. The mechanism of Finance, Economic and Foreign Ministers Meetings is already in place. Moreover, the East Asian countries have proposed many ideas and suggestions on co-operation in areas such as exchanges between industrial and commercial communities, enterprises and young leaders. Exchanges and co-operation through non-governmental channels are also been actively carried out.

 

The achievements of the 10+3 co-operation indicate that East Asian regional co-operation conforms to the needs and interests of the countries concerned and they reflect the confidence and desire of these countries to strengthen their co-operation and attain common development. Given the growing trend of economic globalization and forming regional economic groupings, it is necessary for the East Asian countries to vigorously expand regional co-operation. Without a strong economic growth and substantial regional co-operation, the revitalization of East Asia as a whole would be out of the question.

 

East Asia, of course, has its own features in terms of history and reality. Most of the East Asian countries are developing nations with great diversity and at different levels of development. Therefore, East Asia co-operation should aim at development and should follow the principles of respect for diversity and gradual and orderly progress. At the current stage, we should continue to implement the Joint Statement on East Asia Co-operation. We should promote financial co-operation on the one hand and explore ways to increase trade and investment on the other. We should also increase communication and exchanges between our industrial communities and promote a smooth flow of information, goods and investment in the region. Moreover, the East Asian countries may also exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest so as to strengthen co-ordination and enhance our mutual understanding and mutual trust.

 

As for the positioning of East Asia co-operation. I am of the view that the 10+3 mechanism may serve as a main channel for regional co-operation, through which to gradually establish a framework for regional financial, trade and investment co-operation, and furthermore to realise still greater regional economic integration in a step by step manner.

 

East Asia co-operation should follow the principle of openness. Regional organizations and mechanisms for co-operation such as the 10+3, APEC and ASEM should complement and supplement each other with common development in the region and the world at large as their ultimate goals.

 

The East Asia Vision Group, which was launched last year, comprises experts from 13 countries. The Group in now working on the short, medium and long-term objectives of East Asia co-operation and the steps to attain these goals. I hope the Group will come up with a far-sighted and realistic blueprint for the future East Asia regional co-operation at an early date, a blueprint that conforms to the features and needs of our region. The Chinese experts are ready to play a positive role to this end.

 

In order to push forward the East Asia co-operation, ASEAN, China, Japan and the ROK may focus on the following work at this stage:

 

1. Increase input in the Mekong River Basin development. The development of the Mekong River Basin will help narrow the development gap between countries in this region. China agrees that priority should be given to the infrastructure development, such as transportation, telecommunications and energy, and human resources development.

 

With consent from the Laos and Myanmar and after conducting full consultation with them, China would be ready to provide special fund to help dredge the part of Mekong River in the two countries with a view to opening navigation on the Lancang-Mekong Rivers. When conditions are ripe, China would also be ready to work together with the Asian Development Bank and Thailand and undertake the construction of the Lao section of the Kunming-Bankok highway so that it will be open to traffic at an early date. China endorses the idea of a pan-Asia raillink and supports ASEAN in its preliminary work in this regard. China is ready to take part in the construction through bidding. China also hopes that Japan and the ROK will give full play to their advantages in financial and technological resources and contribute to the development and exploitation of the Mekong River Basin.

 

2. Pay greater attention to the development of and co-operation in the information industry. China fully affirms and supports the e-ASEAN Framework Agreement, which represents a major step on the part of ASEAN to meet the needs of the high-tech development. We are ready to participate in the development of E-SAEAN, speed up the building of the new-generation high-speed Internet and promote the development of e-business. The Chinese side will also strengthen its co-ordination with Japan and the ROK in this area.

 

3. Redouble efforts in human resources development co-operation. East Asia co-operation should focus and be based on human resources development. The series of personnel exchanges and training programmes between China and ASEAN have achieved good results. The Chinese side will continue to increase its financial input in the China-ASEAN Co-operation Fund to support primarily human resources development projects. The Ministry of Science and technology of China will start the practical techniques training program for 10+3 next year.

 

4. Earnestly implement the Chiang Mai Initiative. As proposed by the Chinese side, the meetings of 10+3 Vice Finance Ministers and Central Bank Deputies have become a regular mechanism and have been upgraded to the ministerial level. In May this year, the 10+3 Finance Ministers met and adopted the Chiang Mai Initiative. China wishes to hold further consultations with Japan, the ROK and ASEAN countries with a view to reaching a common position on the practical measures for the implementation of the Initiative so that an East Asia bilateral currency swap network could be gradually established. As for the next-step financial co-operation, China is open to all ideas. They may be discussed within the 10+3 framework. The 1997 Asian financial crisis reveals that the 50-year-old international financial architecture can no longer meet the needs of our times. China stands ready to work with other East Asian countries for the reform of the current international financial regime and the prevention and management of financial crisis. It is without any doubt that what East Asia will do in this regard will be an integral part of the international efforts, and any financial arrangement that East Asia makes will be a supplement to the functions of IMF and other international financial institutions.

 

5. Tap the potential of co-operation in agriculture and tourism. East Asian countries are highly complementary to each other in agriculture. The Chinese side hopes that the 10+3 Agricultural and Forestry Ministers Meeting will be launched as soon as possible. We offer to host an agricultural business forum in China, which we hope will help set off the East Asia agricultural co-operation. Tourism co-operation is an effective way to enhance mutual understanding among the East Asian countries. China has become a large tourism country with more and more of its citizens traveling abroad. China has listed Japan, the ROK and all ASEAN countries as its tourism co-operation partners. The Chinese side hopes that all countries represented here will mutually provide facilities and promote extensive personnel flow and exchanges among East Asian countries. This will serve to enhance our mutual understanding and trust.

 

As a member of East Asia, China has maintained a good momentum in its economic development. We have realized the first-step and second-step strategic goals of our modernization drive. As we enter the new century, our country will enter a new stage of developing a well-to-do society and forging ahead towards our third-step strategic objective of basically and forging ahead towards our third-step strategic objective of basically achieving modernization. We anticipate a two-fold increase in our economic aggregates in the next ten years. The formulation of our Tenth Five-year Plan is now under way. In the coming five years, we will press ahead with our institutional reform and technological innovation, step up the strategic economic restructuring, speed up the informationization of our national economy and social development and carry out the strategy of developing China's west. China will push forward its modernisation drive in all areas on a new basis and a larger scale. We will unswervingly open still wider to the outside world. All our preparations for China's WTO membership are now well under way. One thing is for sure, i.e. the world will se a more open market, improved laws and regulations, and a still better investment environment in China. We hope that while China is increasing its input in East Asia co-operation, business people from other East Asian countries will also grasp the historical opportunities of China's fast economic development and opening-up to expand trade and economic co-operation with China, and participate in the development of China's west in particular.

 

The Chinese Government will, as always, attach great importance to its co-operation with East Asian countries and is ready to work with them for the success in East Asia co-operation and for the region's economic prosperity. Let's join hands and work for a better future in the new century.

 

Thank you.