The 16th Policy Plenary Meeting was held on
July 31, 2006 on the theme of "ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference
(PMC)", and reports were made by Mr. TAKADA Toshihisa, Deputy
Director-General of Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Mr. AIKAWA Kazutoshi, Director of
Regional Policy Division, Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, MOFA,
regarding the series of Ministerial Conferences held on July 26-28,
2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There were 21 participants present,
including representatives from MOFA and the Ministry of Finance.
Mr. TAKADA stated that "the series of Ministerial Conferences
was composed of: ASEAN+3 Ministerial Conference, ASEAN Post
Ministerial Conference (PMC), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and
Ministerial Conference among East Asia Summit (EAS) member countries.
The ASEAN Secretariat listed energy, finance, disaster prevention,
SARS, and education as the recommended areas of cooperation
to be discussed in EAS. Japan additionally listed science and
technology, environment, and improvement of investment environment."
Mr. AIKAWA commented that "the focus of the Conferences
was on the Middle East crisis. ASEAN includes Islamic countries
such as Indonesia and Malaysia, and the Conference heard criticisms
against Israel. Also, concerning North Korea, there were strong
requests for the resumption of the six-party talks."
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