PH Calls for Strengthened Global Collaboration and Engagement at the G7-ASEAN Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting
G7-ASEAN group photo.
UNITED KINGDOM, 13 December 2021 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. attended the inaugural G7-ASEAN Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting on 12 December 2021 in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Secretary Locsin said that the landmark ministerial meeting acknowledged the importance of the Indo-Pacific Region and was “a critical step in our joint efforts to strengthen global cooperation and engagement.”
The Secretary expressed the Philippines’ support for the strengthening of the ASEAN-G7 partnership and further welcomed concrete and cooperative initiatives towards advancing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and maintaining a region that is inclusive and based on the rule of law.
“There is great potential in synergizing the G7 members’ Indo-Pacific strategies and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. They have common objectives,” Secretary Locsin emphasized.
The meeting discussed ASEAN-G7 cooperation on shared security and regional collaboration; vaccines and global health security; infrastructure, economic growth and technology; climate change; and gender equality. In their statement, the Ministers welcomed the engagement and cooperation between the G7 and ASEAN, which is important for tackling shared global and regional challenges, and looked forward to closer cooperation between the G7 and ASEAN.
On COVID-19 response and recovery, Secretary Locsin highlighted the common goal of vaccinating as many people as possible, and expressed appreciation for G7 commitments to provide the world with over two billion vaccine doses.
On shared security and regional collaboration, he welcomed statements by members of the G7 on upholding an international rules-based order in the South China Sea, including the reaffirmation of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Award on the South China Sea arbitration.
“UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award are the twin anchors of Philippine positions and activities in the South China Sea. We will not raise anchor and drift or sail away from them. We value your support,” Secretary Locsin stated.
The Secretary underlined the continued push for the swift and full implementation of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar, which, he stressed, “continues to be part of ASEAN” despite Myanmar’s absence from recent ASEAN meetings.
“In this time of the pandemic, the people of Myanmar should be protected from violence and harassment,” Secretary Locsin said.
Secretary Locsin likewise protested any form of human rights abuses, violence, and marginalization of the Afghan people, especially women and girls. He also reiterated the Philippine view that the pursuit of amity in the Korean Peninsula is “the collective responsibility of our entire region”.
The Group of 7, or G7, is composed of the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, and Italy, while the EU usually attends its high-level meetings. ASEAN, Australia, India, and the Republic of Korea were invited to attend this year’s G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting in Liverpool. END
SFA delivering his intervention.
