They agreed to:
- Increase engagement on regional cooperation, including the holding of the 2nd Senior
Officials’ Strategic Dialogue in June 2014.
- Reaffirm their commitment to work together to build the EAS as a key regional institution
for strategic dialogue.
- Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations in 2014, including the
holding of an ASEAN-Australia Leaders’ Summit in the margins of the EAS in Myanmar.
- Continue to encourage all parties to clarify and pursue territorial claims and maritime
entitlements in the South China Sea peacefully and in accordance with international
law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and reiterate
support for closer ASEAN-China negotiations for the early conclusion of a substantive
Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
- Strengthen humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness in the region.
- Collaborate to take forward issues of mutual interest during the Philippines’ host
year for APEC in 2015. Australia offered the secondment of an officer to the Philippine
Government to support the host year.
- Work together to ensure the negotiation of a high quality Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership.
- Co-chair the second ARF seminar on UNCLOS in Manila on 28-29 May 2014.
New Colombo Plan
The Secretaries and Ministers looked forward to the Philippines participating in
the New Colombo Plan from 2015, and hoped that the Plan would see Australian students
studying in the Philippines in the near future.
Next meeting
The Secretaries and Ministers agreed that the Fifth Philippines-Australia Ministerial
Meeting would be hosted by Australia in 2016.
Source:
https://www.dfa.gov.ph/index.php/2013-06-27-21-50-36/dfa-releases/2154-4th-philippines-australia-ministerial-meeting-joint-ministerial-statement