Manila, 31 July 2007

1. The Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue was held in Manila on 31 July 2007, at the margins of the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting / Post Ministerial Conferences and the 14th ASEAN Regional Forum.

2. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Alberto G. Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines. It was attended by H.E. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, H.E. Dr. N. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand, H.E. Christopher Mero, Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, and H.E. Mrs. Adaljiza Magno, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Timor-Leste. The Meeting was held in the form of a breakfast meeting.

3. The participants exchanged views on developments in the Southwest Pacific region. They lauded the commitment of the Southwest Pacific countries to maintaining democratic principles and pursuing good governance. In this light, the participants commended the recent conduct of credible and orderly elections in Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea, and expressed the hope that the political process would help advance those countries' development. The meeting expressed appreciation to countries, including Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines, that are providing assistance to enhance security in Timor-Leste through the International Security Force and the United Nations.

4. The participants had extensive discussions on strengthening people-to-people contact and affirmed the need to promote further cooperation in the areas of education and culture. The Meeting commended Indonesia for its initiative to conduct an annual scholarship programme for studies in Indonesian art and culture, as well as diplomatic training courses. The participants also commended Indonesia in convening various technical cooperation under the Indonesian Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries Program. The Meeting further welcomed the willingness of the Philippines and Australia to help strengthen the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, and the assistance New Zealand is providing in the area of human resource development in both countries.

5. On cultural cooperation, the participants commended Indonesia for convening the Indonesian Journalist Visit Program for 2006 and 2007, which involved SWPD member countries as a medium of cooperation among mass media in the region and raised the possibility of undertaking an exchange of journalists among the member countries to enhance regional understanding. The participants also welcomed Indonesia's proposal to convene an internship for young journalists from SWPD member countries for the year 2008.

6. The participants underscored the continuing threat to regional stability and prosperity posed by transnational crime and terrorism. They welcomed the region's successes in law enforcement operations, including the recent arrests of key terrorist figures and people-smugglers. Nonetheless, the participants also reiterated the need to remain vigilant against these threats. They exchanged views and best practices on addressing transnational crime and terrorism.

7. On interfaith dialogue, the participants praised the active role played by Southwest Pacific countries in the ongoing promotion of interfaith dialogue and understanding in the international community, as evinced by the successful conduct of the 3rd Regional Interfaith Dialogue in Waitangi, New Zealand, in May 2007 at which all Southwest Pacific Dialogue countries were represented. The participants looked forward to the 4th Regional Interfaith Dialogue in 2008. The participants reiterated the need for faith and community leaders across the region to play a role in nurturing respect and understanding between communities at the grassroots levels and complementing it with economic development efforts to mitigate the propaganda of radical elements in affected areas. The participants recognized the leadership of the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia in the area of interfaith dialogue. They expressed support for the Philippines' Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace (TFICP) and for Australia's proposal to co-host, with the EU, an interfaith forum for youth. The participants welcomed the UN-led Alliance of Civilisations (AOC) initiative as the only truly global effort to bridge divides between societies. They commended New Zealand for initiating regional consideration of the AOC Report and its recommendations in the fields of education, youth, media and migration by hosting a High-Level Symposium on the AOC in May.

8. The participants welcomed Indonesia's role in promoting tolerance and free expression of mass media by convening the First Global Inter-Media Dialogue (GIMD) held in Bali on 1-2 September 2006 and co-sponsored the second GIMD in Oslo on 4-5 June 2007. The participants of the GIMD agreed that free expression is important as is respect for cultural values, tradition and religion. The participants further welcomed Indonesia's initiative to convene the third GIMD which is expected to be held in Indonesia in 2008.

9. The participants agreed to continue discussion in the Southwest Pacific Dialogue on the need to address maritime issues in the Southwest Pacific, specifically those pertaining to security, environmental protection, and conservation of fisheries resources. They noted the importance of a systematic exchange of information and the conduct of concrete cooperation, both through bilateral and regional channels. This would ensure that the region's waterways are safe from trafficking in illicit drugs and persons, people smuggling activities, illegal logging, illegal fishing, piracy and robbery, and terrorist operations, and its marine sources exploited in a sustainable manner.

10. The participants discussed the heightened danger posed by avian influenza and HIV/AIDS in the sub-region and deemed essential the intensive regional and international cooperation to enable a comprehensive and timely response to these growing concerns.

11. The participants recognized that the Southwest Pacific was prone to natural disasters, which necessitated the mainstreaming of disaster mitigation policies into domestic poverty alleviation and sustainable development efforts. They agreed to exchange more information in future meetings of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue on how best to strengthen partnerships among the government, private sector, media, civil society and the grassroots for risk reduction strategies.

12. The participants thanked the Government of the Philippines for hosting the Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue and looked forward to the opportunity to meet in 2008 at the margins of the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting / Post Ministerial Conferences in Singapore.