6th East Asia Summit expected to adopt Bali Principle and Connectivity

Nusa Dua, ASEAN Community-The 6^th East Asia Summit (EAS) will be convened in Bali, Indonesia on 19 November 2011. The Summit will be chaired by H.E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of the Republic of Indonesia, as Chair of ASEAN and attended by Heads of State/Government of ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, India, Japan, ROK, and the USA. Besides, the Summit will also be attended by the Foreign Ministers of New Zealand and the Russian Federation to represent their respective leaders. The Secretary General of ASEAN will also be present at the Summit.

 The 6^th East Asia Summit (EAS) will consist of two sessions: plenary and retreat, and will discuss on various broad and strategic issues of common concern at the regional and international levels, with the view to promote and maintain peace and stability in the region. Furthermore, the Summit is expected to discuss on ways to enhance and strengthen the cooperation within five priority areas of the EAS namely finance, energy, education, communicable diseases, and disaster management.

At the Summit, the Leaders are expected to adopt two declarations as the outcome documents of 6^th East Asia Summit (EAS), namely (1) Declaration of the EAS on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations, and (2) Declaration of the 6^th East Asia Summit on ASEAN Connectivity. The first Declaration contains basic norms and common principles taken from various previous basic documents including the UN Charter, TAC and other arrangements among EAS participating countries, which will serve as guidance for the conduct of EAS participating countries towards promoting and maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

The second Declaration includes connectivity as one of key area of cooperation of the East Asia Summit besides the existing five priorities. This Declaration will inter alia support and facilitate further cooperation between ASEAN and the other EAS participating countries in the Connectivity initiative, development of a regional public-private partnership (PPP) development agenda and promote greater engagement and cooperation in people-to-people connectivity.