TNAG-1791-FCO40-2551-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-repatriation--including-Opera-1988 — Page 48

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MDHIAN 6131

THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ACT, THE IMPRESSIVE CONFIRMATION OF

ASEAN SOLIDARITY AT THE MANILA SUMMIT IN DECEMBER 1987 AND

ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENTS IN WORLD POLITICS AS REFLECTED BY THE CONCLUSION OF THE INF TREATY. AT THE SAME TIME, THE

MINISTERS EXPRESSED THEIR REGRET THAT THE CAMBODIA AND

AFGHANISTAN CONFLICTS HAD NOT YET BEEN RESOLVED. THEY REAFFIRMED THEIR DETERMINATION TO JOIN THEIR EFFORTS IN

ORDER TO ASSIST IN THE RESTORATION OF PEACE IN THE REGIONS

OF TENSION TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY.

THE MINISTERS WERE SATISFIED TO NOTE THAT THE ECONOMIES

OF THE EC AND ASEAN HAVE AGAIN SHOWN UPWARD TRENDS DESPITE

DIFFICULT GLOBAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. THE MINISTERS EXPRESSED THEIR GREAT INTEREST IN EVEN STRONGER ECONOMIC

COOPERATION OF BOTH REGIONS AND WELCOMED IN THIS CONNECTION

THE FACT THAT JOINT EC-ASEAN INVESTMENT COMMITTEES HAVE BEEN

FOUNDED IN ALL ASEAN CAPITALS SINCE THEIR LAST MEETING.

3.

REGIONAL COOPERATION

THE EC MINISTERS INFORMED THE ASEAN MINISTERS ABOUT THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ACT, WHICH ENTERED INTO FORCE ON 1 JULY 1987, AND WHICH IS AN EXPRESSION OF THE WILL OF THE EC MEMBER STATES TO CONTINUE THE WORK TO TRANSFORM RELATIONS AS

A WHOLE AMONG THEMSELVES INTO A EUROPEAN UNION (IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SOLEMN DECLARATION OF STUTTGART OF 19

JUNE 1983).

THE ASEAN MINISTERS INFORMED THEIR EUROPEAN

COUNTERPARTS ABOUT THE ASEAN SUMMIT MEETING OF HEADS OF

STATE AND GOVERNMENT WHICH TOOK PLACE IN MANILA ON 14-15

DECEMBER 1987. THE EC MINISTERS CONGRATULATED THE ASEAN COMMUNITY ON THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EXISTENCE AND ON THE PROGRESS IT HAD MADE THROUGH CLOSE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION. THE MINISTERS NOTED THAT ASEAN HAD

EVOLVED INTO AN AREA OF PEACE AMONG ITS MEMBERS AND OF

GROWING STABILITY AND ECONOMIC SUCCESS.

NOW THAT THE EC IS WELL ON ITS WAY TOWARDS THE COMPLETION OF AN INTERNAL MARKET OF 320 MILLION AND IN THE PROCESS OF ESTABLISHING AN EVER-CLOSER UNION AMONG THE PEOPLES OF EUROPE AND THAT THE ASEAN SUMMIT IN MANILA HAS ADOPTED AN IMPORTANT PROGRAMME FOR FURTHER ACTION, IT HAS

BECOME PARTICULARLY EVIDENT THAT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF

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