[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.