Indonesia: Secretary Clinton discusses regional security with ASEAN

Nusa Dua: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ASEAN convened a meeting in Bali to discuss various security and economic issues, including the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone [SEANWFZ] Treaty.

The ASEAN-US meeting as part of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) was chaired by Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Bali International Convention Center (BICC), Nusa Dua on Friday [22 July].

According to an ARF press release, the meeting participants discussed the promotion of ASEAN-US cooperation in contributing to peace, stability, and prosperity in the ASEAN region.

The participaints also conducted in-depth discussions on the US participation at the East Asia Summit in November 2011. They discussed recommendations from leaders who will attend the meeting in November 2011.

In the political field, they also discussed efforts for ASEAN-US cooperation, including attention to the SEANWFZ Treaty.

They again discussed the implementation of cooperation, which was agreed upon during the ASEAN-US meeting in New York in 2010, in the next five years.

Other themes under discussions are non-traditional crimes such as terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and transnational crimes. ASEAN and the United States also reviewed their economic agreement within the framework of investment and trade cooperation.