Jakarta (ANTARA) – Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, highlighted the need for developing a safe, peaceful, and prosperous Southeast Asia at the 25th ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC) Council meeting in Cambodia on Thursday.
“The ASEAN political and security society is an integral part of the ASEAN society to develop a safe and peaceful region, which respects democracy and human rights, to achieve prosperity in the region,” he said during the meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The APSC Council meeting is being held simultaneously with the 40th and the 41st ASEAN Summit from November 10-13, 2022. The meeting has been joined by the ASEAN Secretariat and all ASEAN member states, except Myanmar.
While presenting his remarks, the coordinating minister said that ASEAN needs to enhance its approach and mechanism for tackling human trafficking in the region as well as bolster cooperation and mutual trust in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The ASEAN mechanism for tackling human trafficking in the region needs to be enhanced, including the management of the South China Sea as the ‘Sea of Peace,’ and the implementation of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific is also important to bolster cooperation and build trust in the Indo-Pacific region,” he stated.
Meanwhile, at the same forum, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi pushed the creation of the ASEAN Maritime Outlook (AMO) to allow wider cooperation between ASEAN and its partners.
“Maritime cooperation must become the future, which will integrate us with partners instead of separating us from them,” she said during the meeting.
The need to enhance maritime cooperation between ASEAN and its partners is the reason behind Indonesia’s proposal for the creation of the ASEAN Maritime Outlook, she explained.
Indonesia will hold the ASEAN chairmanship in 2023, and the handover ceremony will take place at the ASEAN Summit’s closing ceremony. During the ceremony, President Joko Widodo is expected to unveil the theme and priority goals of Indonesia’s chairmanship.
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