US looking forward to Phl hosting of Asean maritime forum

MANILA, Philippines - The United States is looking forward to the Philippines’ hosting of the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF) in Manila this week, according to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The forum will bring together the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Summit states, including China and Japan, to discuss regional maritime issues.

“All 18 East Asia Summit states have been invited for in-depth discussions on how to improve safety on the region’s waterways, combat piracy, protect the environment, and we are encouraged by the recent informal dialogue between ASEAN and China as they work toward a comprehensive code of conduct for the South China Sea as a means to prevent future tension in the region,” Clinton said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said the 1st Expanded Forum and the 3rd ASEAN Maritime Forum in Manila will “serve as an opportunity to discuss cross-sectoral cooperation on regional maritime issues.”

The Third ASEAN Maritime Forum (AMF) and EAMF to be held from Oct. 3 to 5 will pursue directives from the 6th East Asia Summit where EAS leaders recognized the importance of promoting maritime cooperation, including sea piracy, search at sea, marine environment, maritime security, maritime connectivity, freedom of navigation, fisheries and other areas of cooperation.

The AMF is the primary forum for discussion of cross-cutting maritime issues in ASEAN, in accordance with the objective to promote maritime cooperation in the ASEAN Political Security Community.

The DFA said this will be the first time that these matters will be discussed among the 18 members of the EAS, which includes the 10 ASEAN member-countries Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the US. The expanded forum will have participants from the government, private-sector stakeholders and academe.