20 November 2012, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

WE, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, People's Republic of China, Republic of India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russian Federation,and United States of America, on the occasion of the 7thEast Asia Summit (EAS) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 20 November 2012;

RECALLING the 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the East Asia Summit, the 2010 Ha Noi Declaration on the Commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of the East Asia Summit, and the 2011 Declaration of the East Asia Summit on the Principles for Mutually Beneficial Relations, and reaffirming their importance in setting the broad vision, principles, objectives, and modalities of the EAS;

EMPHASISING the principles of the EAS as a leaders-led forum for dialogue and cooperation on broad strategic, political and economic issues of common interest and concern with the aim of promoting peace, stability, economic prosperity and integration in East Asia;

RECOGNISING that EAS has 18 participating countries, including both developed countries, and emerging economies and developing countries, that should leverage their respective strengths to carry out North-South Cooperation and South-South Cooperation;

REAFFIRMING the importance of ASEAN Centrality and ASEAN as the driving force within the EAS, working in close partnership with the other participating countries of the EAS;

REITERATING that the EAS is an integral part of the evolving regional architecture in this region;

REITERATING ALSO the need to further enhance EAS cooperation in keeping with the principles of equality, partnership, consultation, and mutual respect among EAS participating countries;

AFFIRMING our commitment to leverage our respective strengths to enhance cooperation in the priority areas of the EAS, namely energy, education, finance, global health issues including pandemic diseases, environment and disaster mitigation, and ASEAN Connectivity; and

RECOGNISING the development challenges in East Asia, the challenges for the global economy, including the impact of the European sovereign debt crisis and downward pressures as well as numerous other challenges to the growth and development of EAS participating countries.

HEREBY DECIDE TO:

1. Support ASEAN as the driving force in the EAS and its centrality in other related regional mechanisms in close partnership with other participating countries and assist ASEAN's efforts to narrow the development gaps in the region and establish the ASEAN Community by 2015;
2. Mobilise the strengths of various regional cooperation mechanisms such as ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Plus Three, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the EAS, and strengthen coordination among these mechanisms, with the aim of driving regional economic growth, facilitating trade and investment, accelerating regional economic integration, and achieving common prosperity which will enhance security and stability in the region;
3. Work toward further mainstreaming sustainable development at all levels and in all its dimensions, promoting balanced, inclusive and sustainable approaches, including the implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), in order to encourage sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth and promote the fair and equitable distribution of growth opportunities and gains, paying special attention to local and poor people;
4. Call on EAS participating countries to promote common development through mutual support and cooperation and to continue providing in accordance with internationally recognized policies and guidelines, responsible, accountable and transparent support to developing countries in the forum, including funding, equipment and technology support and transfer, technical assistance and capacity development to promote equitable development and to achieve concrete and sustainable results in order to benefit the local economy and the people of those countries;
5. Work within the multilateral framework to encourage developing countries in the EAS to take ownership of development priorities to choose implementing approaches that are tailored to country-specific situation and to boost the internal dynamism of growth, by adjusting economic structure and growth models, and in order to achieve their own development goals;
6. Work closely to strengthen the global economic recovery and regional financial cooperation through exchanges of views on macro-economic and financial developments, including via greater collaboration in the financial sector. ASEAN Plus Three Countries agreed to enhance the effectiveness of the Chiang Mai Initiative multilateralisation (CMIM) with continued linkages to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to strengthen the role of the ASEAN Plus Three Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) and Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI);
7. Support regional economic integration efforts and strengthen trade and investment among the EAS participating countries such as through the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) initiative and the proposed China-Japan-Korea FTA;
8. Support ASEAN in enhancing physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity, based on the Declaration of the 6th EAS on ASEAN Connectivity, mobilise private sector resources through public-private partnership, explore ways to set up a regional financing platform for infrastructure development, including through the strengthening of the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and effective and expedited implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC); and at the same time encourage the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC) with the support of the ASEAN Secretariat to engage with EAS participating countries and other external partners, including the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank, in implementing the Declaration of the 6th EAS on ASEAN Connectivity;
9. Encourage EAS participating countries to cooperate in promoting food security and nutrition, especially by improving increasing sustainable agricultural production and productivity, protecting bio-diversity, jointly responding to climate change, securing food and energy supplies for the most vulnerable population, especially women and children and promoting sustainable development;
10. Support the implementation of the initiatives and action plans on energy cooperation undertaken under the ASEAN framework, and between ASEAN and Dialogue Partners, such as the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2010-2015, the work plans of energy cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, European Union, Russian Federation, the United States, the EAS energy cooperation work plan and the East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Initiative, in enhancing energy security and sustainable development, particularly in the formulation and implementation of low carbon growth policies;
11. Expedite the implementation of EAS Education Plan of Action (2011-2015) with the objective of improving the quality of education, promoting academic and student mobility, encouraging the exchange of students and enhancing research and information and knowledge sharing in the field of education services. In this regard, efforts should be made to encourage further cooperation on Technical and Vocational Education and skill Training (TVET), build a platform for inter-cultural education exchanges, support the establishment of the Nalanda University, and promote a life-long learning society;
12. Support the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), and the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme 2010-2015; and enhance linkages between the AADMER Work Programme and the proposed EAS Work Plan on Disaster Management and work towards the implementation of the initiatives contained in the Indonesian-Australian Paper: A Practical Approach to Enhance Regional Cooperation on Disaster Rapid Response, and welcome the convening of the 'EAS-India Workshop 2012: Building Regional Frameworks for Earthquake Risk Management on November 8-9, 2012 in New Delhi and the co-hosting of the ARF Disaster Relief Exercise 2013 by the Kingdom of Thailand and the Republic of Korea; and
13. Enhance coordination and cooperation on public health, promote information exchange and transfer of health related technologies, encourage cooperation to improve public health infrastructure and access to primary health care services, focus on comprehensive prevention, control, care and surveillance of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS tuberculosis, malaria and other emerging or re-emerging diseases, particularly among mobile population, and improve the public health status of people in the region;

These initiatives will be implemented through existing regional frameworks and mechanisms of ASEAN, in close consultation with EAS participating countries and with appropriate support from relevant international organisations such as Asia Development Bank (ADB), Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

Adopted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on the Twentieth Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Twelve.