FEALAC - III FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING (FMM III)
BRASILIA MINISTERIAL DECLARATION AND PROGRAMME OF ACTION

Japanese

1. We, the Foreign Ministers of member countries of the Forum for East Asia and Latin America Co-operation (FEALAC), met in Brasilia, on the 22nd and 23rd of August, 2007, to strengthen the links between our regions, broaden the areas of our co-operation and enlarge the membership. In this context, we welcomed the admission of the Dominican Republic as a new member of the Forum.
2. Recalling the outcome of the I Foreign Ministers Meeting, held in Santiago, in 2001, when the foundations of FEALAC were established, and of the II Foreign Ministers Meeting, held in Manila, in 2004, which resulted in the Manila Plan of Action, we have unanimously adopted this Brasilia Ministerial Declaration, reaffirming the objectives and purposes of the Forum and building upon existing accomplishments, with a view to further enhancing our bi-regional co-operation.
3. In the course of two days of active and friendly discussions, we have reached basic consensus on various points, which will serve as further guidelines for future joint and co-operative actions.
4. We noted, with concern, the continuous growth of challenges present at the time of the last FEALAC Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM), such as the widening income gap between developed and developing countries, the increasing poverty and hunger, the difficulties faced by many countries to meet their energy requirements adequately; the threats to the environment including climate changes, the loss of biodiversity and the unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, and their adverse effects to sustainable development; the difficulties faced by many communities to meet their basic needs and to provide the new generations with education and health services; the increasing threats of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, the persisting phenomena of terrorism, as well as the increase of illicit drug trafficking and other trans-national organised crime, and the ominous threat of new pandemics as well as the existing limits to get the sufficient financial means to resist this deterioration.
5. Aware that the world drug problem represents a threat to the security of our citizens, and recognizing that drug abuse is a public health problem that affects society as a whole, we attach great importance to prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers as an essential part of national health care systems. Conscious also of the need for continued progress in the fight against the production and trafficking of illicit drugs, and frequently related crimes, such as laundering of assets, illicit arms and weapons trafficking, and the illicit diversion of pharmaceutical products and chemical substances, we acknowledged the value of strengthened international cooperation towards combating transnational organized crime in all its forms, particularly the illicit drug trafficking, based on the principle of shared responsibility between producing and consuming countries, and within the framework of respective domestic legislation and international conventions on the matter. We also recognized the importance of fighting against trafficking and smuggling of persons.
6. We recognized the importance of looking into the phenomenon of international migration in an integrated manner.
7. At the same time, we noted that scientific progress achieved in new areas, such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, the space technology and new and renewable sources of energy is very promising, and should, as much as possible, be shared world-wide. Therefore, we pledged to respond to those challenges identified in this renewed initiatives.
8. Reiterating our commitment to strengthening the multilateral climate change regime, we recall the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the acknowledgement that the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, co-ordinated with social and economic development in an integrated manner, and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions. We look forward to measures to address climate change within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and to the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change and the third session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in December, 2007. We also look forward to the UN Secretary-General's high-level event, which is to take place in New York on 24 September 2007.
9. We highly appreciated the works of the three FEALAC Working Groups and determined to promote co-operation in the specific areas of priorities which those Working Groups identified as core programs in FEALAC activities: " Academic Exchange", "Exchange of Expertise of Addressing Narcotics, Drugs and Illicit Drug Trafficking" and "Parliamentarians, journalists and Young Leaders Exchange" for the Political Cultural and Education Working Group; " Sustainable Development, especially Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), "Utilisation of Information and Communication Technology(ICT)", "Promotion of Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)", and "Poverty Reduction " for the Economy and Society Working Group; as well as " Renewable Energy, " "Natural Disaster Management " and " Epidemic Diseases" for the Science and Technology Working Group.
10. We expressed our concern that progress towards the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, remains slow and uneven. In that regard, we shared the view that urgent actions by each country and the international community are imperative to meet the needs of the world's poorest, of the middle income countries that still need the support of the international co-operation to overcome the remaining areas of poverty still left and to foster sustainable development in all of them. We reiterate the importance of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals until 2015. We recognised the value of developing innovative financial mechanisms on a voluntary basis and other financial mechanisms as meaningful complementation of the Official Development Aid (ODA). In this context, we encouraged interested countries to explore projects, actions and innovative financial mechanisms.
11. We reaffirmed the objectives of upholding and safeguarding an open and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, as expressed in the Doha Ministerial Declaration. We shared the intention to co-operate to bring the Doha Round negotiations of the WTO to a satisfactory term, pursuant to the Ministerial Declaration of November 2001 on the Doha Development Agenda, which explicitly recognises the need for all our peoples to benefit from the increased opportunities and welfare gains that the multilateral trade system generates. We expressed our full support for the timely, balanced and successful conclusion of the Doha Round.
12. In the current complex and multifaceted world order, no single country, or group of countries, would be able to tackle alone the interconnected threats facing the international community. Therefore, there must be broad, deep and sustained multilateral co-operation among States, including stronger co-operation among States from different regions. One of the ways could be fostering the triangular co-operation.
13. We reaffirm our strong belief in multilateralism with the United Nations at its center. We emphasised the need for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, to make it more effective, accountable, efficient and transparent, and shared the intention to co-ordinate the efforts of our delegations in New York in this matter. In this regard, we reaffirmed our commitment to the Resolution adopted by the General Assembly in October 2005 (A/RES/60/1 - 2005 World Summit Outcome) that called for the strengthening of the General Assembly, the revitalisation of the Economic and Social Council, the advancement of the Peacebuilding Commission and "early reform of the Security Council - an essential element of our overall effort to reform the United Nations - in order to make it more broadly representative, efficient and transparent and thus to further enhance its effectiveness and the legitimacy and implementation of its decisions".
14. We recalled that both regions uphold the importance of a democratic international order, based on among others respect for the principles of the International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, national sovereignty, mutual benefits, upholding of human rights, promotion of sustainable development and strengthening of multilateralism.
15. We pledged to continue fostering mutual understanding and respect, trust and dialogue, in order to explore fully the potential for co-operation and increase convergence and commitment, with the purpose of working together in different international fora towards safeguarding our common interests.
16. We acknowledged that FEALAC plays a valuable part in bringing together countries from two very diverse regions for dialogue and co-operation. In this sense, we reaffirmed our interest to engage in joint projects, with a view to fostering mutual knowledge between the two regions and bearing tangible fruits for our populations. We recognised that better understanding among FEALAC member countries on matters of mutual interest could be useful in addressing issues in the relevant multilateral fora, particularly in forging better co-ordination where our views converge. We recognised that while FEALAC plays an important complementary role to activities in other fora, it should avoid duplication of existing efforts.
17. In this context we welcomed the Alliance of Civilisations initiative launched by the UN Secretary-General to build bridges between societies, to promote dialogue and understanding and to forge the collective political will to address the world's imbalances, and commended the Report of its High Level Group which included representatives from both regions.
18. We noted with appreciation that the relationship between East Asia and Latin America has evolved from one marked by political approximation to one that includes a growing dimension of economic, technological and cultural approximation.
19. We decided to confer high priority to trade and investment co-operation in FEALAC, as an important means to promote development, prosperity and social inclusiveness for our populations as well as a way to promote an even more meaningful and substantive relationship between our regions.
20. We reaffirmed the particular importance of the development of micro, small and medium enterprises continuing with initiatives, projects and fora aimed at building their capacity, including by strengthening entrepreneurship and developing human resources, as well as by providing trade promotion.
21. We reaffirmed the need to raise awareness about FEALAC among civil society and population in member states, to promote the visibility of FEALAC and to encourage involvement of all different areas of the national administration.
22. We decided that, upon selection of priority projects for co-operation, we will give particular attention to those which encompass a large number of members and reconcile the goals of fostering a knowledge-based economy, promoting inclusive and sustainable development and alleviating poverty.
23. We expressed our determination to strengthen national efforts and work together towards ensuring that the positive effects of globalisation are enjoyed more broadly and equitably and that its negative effects will not contribute to the marginalization of any sectors of human society, particularly those in developing countries including landlocked developing countries, small island developing states and the least developed countries.
24. We recognised the importance of deeper involvement of economic, educational, Science and Technology, social, cultural and other sectors of member countries into the process, and we pledged that the projects being carried out by the working groups should reflect that understanding.
25. We recognised the importance of positive contributions of international and regional financial institutions to promoting bi-regional exchanges, such as Latin America/Caribbean and Asia-Pacific Economic and Business Association (LAEBA) initiative co-ordinated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). We encouraged those international and regional financial institutions to play greater roles and enhance collaborations for FEALAC projects. We also welcomed and encouraged the collaboration between the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to further promote and develop bi-regional projects which would strengthen the relations between two regions. We expressed our wish that those two commissions would also play roles as permanent think tanks for FEALAC.
26. Based, inter alia, on the above points, we resolved to direct and support the following course of initiatives for FEALAC:
    • Senior Officials should evaluate regularly the initiatives presented in the context of the Working Groups on Politics, Culture and Education, Economy and Society, Science, and Technology. The Working Groups are encouraged to conceive and perform concrete actions with a gradual and realistic approach, in order to enhance co-operation in such areas;
    • Share experience in combating trans-national organised crimes, among others; illicit narcotics and drug trafficking, and terrorism;
    • Assist trade promotion events, such as fairs, expositions, business, seminars and conferences, among other initiatives, in countries of both regions. Such initiatives should be aimed at allowing businessmen and business enterprises to share expertise and experience and explore mutually beneficial business opportunities;
    • Share information on common projects and activities on a regular basis, including through web-sites. In this regard, the FEALAC member countries accept with appreciation the generous offer of the Republic of Korea to develop and maintain the common official FEALAC's internet site and encourage the Government of the Republic of Korea to open the web-site as soon as possible;
    • Organise cultural events showcasing unique aspects of each country;
    • Co-operate in the areas of rural development, credit and insurance to household farmers and cooperatives;
    • Organise exchange programmes for students and scholars of both regions to increase linkages among academic institutions of the two regions;
    • Share expertise and promote co-operative ventures pertaining to water treatment; waste management; biotechnology and biomedicine.
    • Share experience on developing new and renewable sources of energy and share research and experiences aimed at saving energy with the use of efficient technologies and the implementation of sustainable approaches for the generation, transmission and consumption of energy;
    • Encourage initiatives among member countries of FEALAC aiming at the eradication of illiteracy, in the fulfilment of the Second Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
    • Strengthen efforts in the promotion of projects on disaster prevention, reduction, mitigation, relief and rehabilitation. To this end, we share the intention to continue to explore ways of combining our efforts in all international fora, including the United Nations, and in the context of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, as well as in regional institutions established for these purposes. In this regard, we will place special emphasis on regional initiatives and projects related to early warning for natural disasters and disaster risk reduction, and pandemic emergencies, such as HIV/AIDS, SARS and avian flu.
27. We welcomed the holding of the two synergetic activities that were conducted in Brasilia, alongside and in the framework of the III FMM, namely the Business Seminar between East Asia and Latin America, as well as the Academic Seminar that congregated members of research institutes of the two regions and took note of their recommendations. In this regard, we welcomed the participation of members from the media and the NGOs in those events as a valuable contribution to FEALAC activities.
28. In concluding the discussions, we reached general consensus that the continuation and strengthening of co-operation between East Asian and Latin American countries are one of the most desirable and fruitful endeavour, bearing in mind that East Asia and Latin America are two of the most dynamic, fast-growing and multi-culturally interactive regions of the world.
29. We decided to meet again at the level of Foreign Ministers at a venue and on a date to be decided by consensus.
30. We expressed our appreciation to the outgoing co-ordinators of FEALAC, Brazil and the Republic of Korea, and welcomed the new Regional Co-ordinators, Argentina and Japan.

Brasilia, August 2007