    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book II)]
    [November 17, 2005]
    [Pages 1737-1739]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Joint Vision Statement on the ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced Partnership
    November 17, 2005

        Recalling that the significant progress made in the relations
    between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the
    United States since 1977 has contributed to the deepening of ties in all
    fields of cooperation, and such has been nurtured through the annual
    ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference, the ASEAN-U.S. Dialogue at senior
    officials' level, and other fora;
        Further recalling the meeting between Leaders of ASEAN Member
    Countries which are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
    (APEC) and the President of the United States during the APEC Economic
    Leaders' Meeting at Los Cabos, Mexico on 26 October 2002, and the
    announcement by the United States that year of the Enterprise for ASEAN
    Initiative (EAI) and the ASEAN Cooperation Plan (ACP) which have
    contributed to growing cooperation between ASEAN and the United States
    in numerous areas of interest;
        Welcoming the continuing progress in ASEAN-U.S. Dialogue Relations
    recently, particularly following the meeting between the ASEAN Foreign
    Ministers and the Secretary of State of the United States in New York on
    12 September 2005;
        Sharing a common desire to live with one another and with the world
    at large in a just, democratic, and harmonious environment, and in this
    context, recognizing that equitable, democratic, and caring societies
    are the foundation for durable peace, stability, and shared prosperity;
        Expressing the need to work closely to help alleviate poverty and
    address development gaps in ASEAN, through sustained economic growth and
    enhanced economic interaction and links between ASEAN and the United
    States, and joint efforts in nurturing human, cultural, and natural
    resources for sustainable development, and to further build on the
    existing friendship, goodwill, understanding, and people-to-people
    linkages between ASEAN and the United States;
        Reaffirming support for the principles and purposes of the Charter
    of the United Nations (UN) and other universally recognized principles
    of international law;
        Expressing a common interest in the development of ASEAN as a
    regional institution that will effectively contribute to peace,
    prosperity, and stability in Southeast Asia and the world, and
    recognizing the important contribution of the United States to
    maintaining peace and stability and to promoting prosperity;
        Sharing a great interest in the success of ASEAN's efforts in
    pursuing comprehensive integration towards the realization of an open
    and outward-looking, dynamic and resilient ASEAN Community by 2020 and a
    Southeast Asia bonded together in partnership as a community of caring
    societies, as envisioned in the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II;
        Expressing desire to further increase cooperation and friendship
    between ASEAN and the United States to seize the opportunities and meet
    the challenges of an increasingly interdependent world.

    ASEAN and the United States hereby:

        1. Agree to launch an ASEAN-United States Enhanced Partnership that
    is comprehensive, action-oriented, and forward-looking, and comprising
    political and security cooperation, economic cooperation, and social and
    development cooperation including, but not limited to, the following
    elements:

    Political and Security Cooperation

        2. Support the integration of ASEAN, leading to an ASEAN Community
    through,

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    inter alia, the implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme (VAP)
    and appropriate successor plans;
        3. Acknowledge that the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast
    Asia (TAC) acts as a code of conduct governing inter-State relations in
    the region for the promotion of peace and stability, and its role as a
    unifying concept for ASEAN, and respect the spirit and principles of the
    TAC, in line with the commitment of ASEAN and the United States to
    enhance their partnership;
        4. Support the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) as the premier regional
    political and security forum in the Asia-Pacific region with ASEAN as
    the driving force;
        5. Recognize the importance of non-proliferation in all aspects of
    nuclear weapons in Southeast Asia;
        6. Promote closer cooperation on combating transnational crimes,
    including inter alia, terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass
    destruction, illicit drug trafficking, trafficking in persons, and
    enhancing maritime and border security, and express readiness to build
    on the ASEAN-United States Joint Declaration for Cooperation to Combat
    International Terrorism signed in Bandar Seri Begawan in 2002 to develop
    joint activities;
        7. Cooperate in multilateral frameworks, including the UN, the World
    Trade Organization (WTO), and the APEC, emphasize the importance of
    ambitious outcomes in the Doha Round that would bring tangible benefits
    to all, support the early accession of Laos and Viet Nam to the WTO, and
    consider the admission of ASEAN Member Countries that are not members of
    APEC into that forum;

    Economic Cooperation

        8. Strengthen economic cooperation by, inter alia, continuing to
    implement the EAI, which serves as a mechanism to enhance trade and
    investment flows between ASEAN and the United States, and in this
    regard, agree to work together to conclude a region-wide ASEAN-United
    States Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA);
        9. Further enhance economic linkages, which will assist in
    sustaining economic growth in ASEAN and the U.S., and cooperate jointly
    in support of ASEAN's realization of an ASEAN Economic Community by
    2020, if not earlier;
        10. Enhance economic cooperation in areas to be mutually agreed upon
    between ASEAN and the U.S., including but not limited to trade and
    investment facilitation; and undertake missions and measures to
    strengthen the investment climate in ASEAN thereby encouraging U.S.
    investment into the region;
        11. Collaborate to reform and strengthen international financial
    institutions in the areas of economic surveillance through the sharing
    of macroeconomic and financial information where disclosure of
    information is permitted by domestic laws and regulations of the
    respective countries, and agree to work more closely in international
    financial institutions to promote the influence of Asia to a level more
    commensurate with its economic weight;
        12. Promote greater interaction between their respective private
    sectors, recognizing the pivotal role of the business community;
        13. Pursue the development and deployment of cleaner, more efficient
    energy technologies of all kinds, including renewable and other low-
    emitting sources of energy, enhance ASEAN's regional energy
    infrastructure, promote energy security, promote the protection of the
    environment and the sustainability of natural resources, recognizing
    that economic growth is a necessary condition for deploying the cleaner
    technologies needed for continued environmental improvement, and pledge
    further collaboration in all modes of transport, including air maritime
    and multimodal transport to facilitate the movement of peoples and
    goods;

    [[Page 1739]]

    Social and Development Cooperation

        14. Collaborate in the implementation of the Vientiane Action
    Programme (VAP) and its successor programmes or plans so that ASEAN may
    accelerate its regional integration, recognizing the importance of the
    Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and other sub-regional growth
    areas which would bridge the development gaps within ASEAN, and stress
    the importance of cooperation to promote sustainable development;
        15. Cooperate at the regional and global levels on disaster
    management, including the development of regional and global standby
    arrangements for disaster management and emergency response, and in this
    connection, welcome the ASEAN Standby Arrangements for Disaster Relief
    and Emergency Response;
        16. Resolve to work together to prevent the spread and reduce the
    harm of HIV/AIDs, SARS, other infectious diseases and, on an urgent
    basis, develop mechanisms for cooperation to contain outbreaks of avian
    influenza as well as pledge cooperation to put in place systems and
    procedures to control infectious diseases including animal diseases;
        17. Foster and deepen cooperation in science and technology, and
    information and communications technology and encourage people-to-people
    interactions and exchanges as well as inter-faith dialogues, and promote
    cooperation through networking activities and capacity building in
    education such as student exchange, fellowship programme, academic
    attachment and research collaboration, as well as promotion of ASEAN
    studies in the U.S. and U.S. studies in ASEAN Member Countries;
        18. Welcome the intention of the U.S. to foster educational
    exchanges and the continuing efforts of the U.S. to strengthen its
    engagement with the ASEAN Secretariat and support the capacity building
    of the Secretariat;

    Follow-Up

        19. Call on the ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the U.S. Secretary of
    State, with the assistance of the senior officials, to develop a Plan of
    Action to implement the ASEAN-United States Enhanced Partnership;
        20. Call on the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) and the United States
    Trade Representative (USTR) to meet and contribute to the implementation
    of the ASEAN-U.S. Enhanced Partnership and its Plan of Action.

    Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of
    this joint statement.