The ASEAN-China Transport Ministers’ Special Meeting on Connectivity
was held on September 2 in Nanning, China, on the sidelines of the 10th
China-ASEAN Expo, according to a joint statement.
The ministers conducted in-depth discussions on transport connectivity
and had constructive exchanges of views and ideas with representatives
from the industry, said statement which was released by the ASEAN
Secretariat on September 3.
The statement said the
ministers noted that since the official launch of the ASEAN-China Free
Trade Area (ACFTA), a large ASEAN–China trade and economic region is
taking shape, with a population of more than 1.9 billion, land area of
over 14 million square kilometres and a gross value of production of
nearly 10 trillion USD. The ACFTA is now becoming the fastest-growing
and most promising region in the world.
The
ministers considered it opportune to continue to build upon the existing
collaborative mechanisms under the annual ASEAN-China Transport
Ministers’ Meeting (ATM+China) to deepen transport connectivity
cooperation as both China and ASEAN countries are working to upgrade the
ACFTA and advance negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP).
On this basis, the ministers
reached a consensus on maximising the working mechanism, of which the
ATM+China is the highest-level dialogue mechanism between the two sides
in the transport sector, playing a vital role in the implementation of
transport cooperation initiatives agreed by Chinese and ASEAN
Transport Ministers.
The strengthening of
connectivity not only provides strong support for ASEAN member states to
materialise the ASEAN Economic Community by the end of 2015, but also
lays a solid foundation for future economic integration in this area,
the ministers affirmed.
They agreed to encourage
competent enterprises to directly engage in the investment, construction
and operation of projects so as to steadily advance the implementation
of major projects.
The ministers agreed to
strengthen maritime transport and air connectivity, and maintain a
balanced development of ASEAN-China connectivity cooperation and the
different stage of infrastructure development in the region.
They said they would further enhance existing transport cooperation
and improve connectivity both within ASEAN and between ASEAN and China,
for the mutual benefit of ASEAN nations and China, with special emphasis
on the least developed member states.
The
ministers tasked senior officials to identify the key projects
connecting China with ASEAN members or those linking the bloc’s states
at an early date.-VNA