SECOND MEETING FOR THE ASEAN+3 STUDY GROUP ON FACILITATION AND PROMOTION OF EXCHANGE OF PEOPLE AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

July 8, 2003
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

1. Date and Venue

July 3-4, at Jakarta, Indonesia

2. Summary of discussion

The Meeting discussed the outline of the report to be submitted to the ASEAN+3 Leaders in October. The following items were considered and discussed as possible recommendations to be included in the report to the Leaders: Free Trade Agreements/ Economic Partnership Agreements, promotion of mutual recognition of the academic, skill and professional qualifications, facilitation of immigration procedures, improvement of existing trainee exchange programs, acceptance of unskilled workers, promotion of lifelong learning, cooperation among educational institutions, strengthening student and youth exchange, promotion of R&D cooperation, improvement of "Centers of Excellence", ensuring gender equality, development of youth skills, establishment of "East Asia House", promotion of various cultural and sports events, cooperation among media organizations, cooperation among villages, municipalities and cities, implementation mechanism of these recommendations as well as the financial resources for the implementation.

3. Date and Venue of the 3rd Meeting

The Meeting agreed that the 3rd Meeting, which will be the final meeting of this Study Group, is to be held in Bangkok from 21 to 22 August, 2003.

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