The 5th Meeting of Experts and Eminent Persons (EEP) of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) took place in Dili on 27 and 28 of January 2011. This was the first ARF Meeting convened in Timor-Leste since Timor-Leste joined the ARF in 2005.
The Meeting was held in the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Timor-Leste, co-chaired by Timor-Leste and Thailand.
“Timor-Leste was honored and privileged to host the meeting where more than fifty experts and eminent persons from ARF Participants attended. This demonstrates yet again the firm commitment of Timor-Leste to contribute actively to the region and to become a member of ASEAN “, said the Director General for Cooperation and Regional Integration and ARF Senior Officials’ Meeting Leader of Timor –Leste, Dr. Marciano da Silva.
Senior Officials’ Meeting Leader of Timor –Leste,
Dr. Marciano da Silva
Dr Marciano da Silva also said that “The Meeting aimed to generate innovative ideas on practical and feasible Preventive Diplomacy (PD) measures, building on the discussions of the 4th Meeting of the ARF EEP in Bali in 2009 and also explore ideas on the future direction of the ARF as a pivotal pillar in the emerging regional security architecture”.
General Boonsrang Niumpradit -ARF EEP,
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr.Zacarias Albano da Costa
and Dr. Marciano da Silva
The ASEAN Regional Forum, established in 1994, is a consultation and dialogue forum for the Asia Pacific region on political and security issues. It comprises 27 Participants: 10 ASEAN Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam), 10 ASEAN Dialogue Partners (Australia, Canada, China, European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea , Russia and the United States), Bangladesh, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste.
The Meeting was assisted by the ASEAN Secretariat.
