ASEAN-U.S. Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific

WE, the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States of America (United States), gathered on the occasion of the 11^th ASEAN-United States (U.S.) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 6 September 2023;

REAFFIRMING the importance of upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the ASEAN Charter, as well as upholding shared values enshrined in the Declaration on Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN), the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo- Pacific (AOIP);

AFFIRMING our support for the objectives and principles of the AOIP, which provides a guide for ASEAN’s engagement in the wider Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions or the Indo-Pacific and a conceptual basis for growing cooperation between ASEAN and the United States via our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP);

EMPHASIZING that it is in the interest of ASEAN, with the support of external partners, including the United States, to remain at the center of the regional architecture and shape its dynamics to bring about peace, security, stability and prosperity for the peoples in the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions;

NOTING that the AOIP and the United States’ Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) share relevant fundamental principles, in promoting an open, inclusive, and rules-based regional architecture, in which ASEAN is central, working alongside partners who share these goals;

REAFFIRMING the goals and principles enumerated in the Joint Vision Statement of the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit held in Washington, D.C., on 12 May 2022, to commemorate 45 years of Dialogue Partnership, as well as those articulated in the ASEAN-U.S. Leaders’ Statement on the Establishment of the ASEAN-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, adopted by the Leaders of ASEAN and the United States in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 12 November 2022;

COMMENDING Indonesia’s efforts as the Chair of ASEAN to elevate and mainstream the AOIP as a catalyst for cooperation with the United States and other dialogue partners across ASEAN’s political-security, economic, and socio-cultural communities;

SEEKING to advance cooperation furthering the AOIP that promotes mutual trust and confidence as well as reinforce an open, transparent, inclusive, and rules-based regional architecture with ASEAN at the centre;

UNDERSCORING ASEAN’s central role in developing and shaping institutions that strengthen the rules-based regional architecture and foster a strategic outlook that promotes economic and other forms of cooperation, respect for national sovereignty, and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law;

EMPHASIZING that the Plan of Action (POA) to Implement the ASEAN-U.S. Strategic Partnership (2021-2025), including the POA Annex for the ASEAN-U.S. Comprehensive Strategic Partnership adopted at the ASEAN-U.S. Post-Ministerial Conference on 14 July 2023, in Jakarta, Indonesia, outlines our shared commitments under ASEAN’s political-security, economic, and socio-cultural pillars, and sets priorities for cooperation, including U.S. intent to establish an ASEAN-U.S. Center in the United States through a public-private partnership;

COMMITTING to engaging in substantive, practical, and tangible cooperation in keeping with the vision of Southeast Asia as an epicentrum of growth through practical projects in the four priority areas of the AOIP: 1) maritime cooperation, 2) connectivity, 3) the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and 4) economic and other possible areas of cooperation; in order to promote mutual trust, respect, and benefit through ASEAN-led mechanisms, thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of peace, security, stability and prosperity in the region;

WE HEREBY COMMITTO:

1. FULFILL the goals outlined in the POA to Implement the ASEAN-U.S. Strategic Partnership (2021-2025), including the POA Annex for the ASEAN-U.S. CSP;

Maritime Cooperation

1. EXPAND cooperation on sustainable management of marine resources; strengthen capacity to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; protect the livelihood of coastal communities; support small-scale fishing communities; promote maritime commerce; expand efforts to protect and conserve marine environments; and improve maritime domain awareness;

1. ENHANCE maritime cooperation through ASEAN-led mechanisms by upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, reaffirming the need to pursue peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as the relevant Standards and Recommended Practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and the relevant instruments and conventions of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and promoting cooperation and coordination among our relevant agencies, including maritime law enforcement agencies, to collaborate to improve maritime domain awareness, search and rescue, protection, restoration and sustainable management of the marine environment, as well as maritime safety, security and education;

1. NOTE the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/77/248 which emphasises, in the Preamble, the universal and unified character of the 1982 UNCLOS, and which reaffirms that the Convention sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out and is of strategic importance as the basis for national, regional and global action and cooperation in the marine sector, and that its integrity needs to be maintained;

Connectivity

1. PROMOTE cooperation and partnerships that support digital innovation, seamless logistics, regulatory excellence, and sustainable infrastructure;

1. ENHANCE human capital development; build people-to-people connectivity within the region and beyond, including through ASEAN-led mechanisms, focusing inter alia on human capital development and education including digital literacy skills, good governance and the rule of law, the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the empowerment of women and girls, youth, and vulnerable groups, and the strengthening of connections between our peoples, including through the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI);

1. SUPPORT ASEAN’s infrastructure and connectivity in line with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, and other relevant documents;

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals

1. FURTHER PROMOTE the stability, peace, prosperity, and sustainable development of the Mekong subregion through shared initiatives under the Mekong-U.S. Partnership (MUSP), which complements the Friends of the Mekong and supports the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 and the IAI Work Plan IV (2021-2025), in support of ASEAN Centrality and unity in promoting ASEAN’s sub-regional development;

1. SUPPORT narrowing the development gap in ASEAN, including the emerging gap arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and assisting the region’s economic recovery to realise an inclusive, participatory, and collaborative ASEAN Community that is no longer divided by the development gaps among its members;

1. ADVANCE efforts to accelerate progress and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 by maximizing the complementarities between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through cooperation in food security, health security and the building of resilient health systems, gender equality, human rights, clean energy and climate action, smart and sustainable cities, environmental conservation, transparency, and the rule of law as well as other SDG priorities;

1. FURTHER collaborate to accelerate clean and just energy transition and the fight against climate change; support the promotion of an inclusive community in ASEAN; and strengthen support for the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre);

Economic or Other Possible Areas of Cooperation

1. DEEPEN economic cooperation, promoting financial stability, resilience, and anti-corruption; facilitate trade and investment; enhance cooperation on trade facilitation, logistics infrastructure, and on services, including the transportation sector; enhance engagement to contribute to sustainable, resilient and inclusive economic growth, including through the vital economic participation of the United States in the region;

1. SUPPORT cooperation on digital economy, cybersecurity, and cooperation that builds an open, safe, secure, stable, accessible, interoperable, peaceful and resilient cyberspace;

1. SEEK to engage, where appropriate, other countries, regional and sub-regional mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions to work with ASEAN on specific areas of common interests to complement the relevant initiatives through innovative, and complementary approaches based on the relevant ASEAN-led mechanisms, such as the EAS.

ADOPTED in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the Sixth of September in the Year Two Thousand and Twenty-Three.

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