Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs

6 December 2006
Media statement

Peters heads to East Asia Summit

Foreign Minister Winston Peters heads overseas to the Philippines tomorrow to attend a meeting of Foreign Ministers as part of the second East Asia Summit (EAS), being held in Cebu.

The EAS, which met for the first time in Kuala Lumpur last year, brings together leaders and Foreign Ministers from the 10 countries making up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations grouping (ASEAN), the ASEAN+3 group (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea), and Australia, New Zealand and India.

The Foreign Ministers’ meeting is in preparation for the Leaders' Summit next week. Ministers will be briefed on the five main topics of the Summit – energy security, education, finance, avian flu and disaster mitigation and preparedness.

Ministers will also consider the draft Cebu Declaration on energy security, and are likely to discuss regional issues such as North Korea, and how the work of EAS can complement that of other regional bodies such as APEC.

“New Zealand is very pleased to be part of the East Asia Summit process, and we take our role in it very seriously,” Mr Peters said.

“The EAS is an important outward-looking regional grouping and we are fully committed to its success.

"The meeting of Foreign Ministers this weekend ahead of the leaders' summit also offers a chance to hold bilateral meetings with a range of counterparts from throughout the Asia region."

Mr Peters will return to New Zealand on Tuesday.

ENDS

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