Jakarta, 4 November 2011
The first ever ASEAN-Australia Joint Cooperation Committee (AA-JCC) was convened on 28 October 2011 at the ASEAN Secretariat.
The Meeting set a milestone in ASEAN-Australia relations. It provided the venue at Ambassadorial level for ASEAN and Australia to review the ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership Plan of Action and to discuss the nature, scale and breadth of Australia’s aid program to the region. The Meeting also provided the opportunity for the two sides to have an extensive discussion on global and regional issues such as economic cooperation, gender equality, disaster risk management, forestry, education, and connectivity.
During the Meeting, Australia reiterated its commitment to enhance cooperation with ASEAN and also recognised the importance of the principles, values and norms of the ASEAN Charter as a significant guideline towards the ASEAN Community Building in 2015. Australia stressed the importance of ensuring the effective operation of the ASEAN Secretariat and found it critical to strengthening the institutional capacity and outreach of the ASEAN Secretariat to support the ASEAN’s goals by 2015.
The AA-JCC was established to further enhance and deepen the ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Partnership including through reviewing and guiding ASEAN-Australia development cooperation; providing direction to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of cooperation in areas under its purview.
The JCC is composed of the ASEAN Member States’ Permanent Representatives to ASEAN based in Jakarta, the representative of Australia, and the ASEAN Secretariat.
