YB Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, led the Malaysian delegation to the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meetings with Guests from ASEAN, held on Sunday, 12 December 2021 in hybrid form. YB Foreign Minister participated virtually in the ASEAN-G7 meeting as well as thematic sessions on “IndoPacific: Infrastructure, Technology and Shared Security”, and “Vaccines and Global Health Security”. YB Foreign Minister was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as officials from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Cuture responsible for the ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community pillars.
The ASEAN-G7 meeting was the first engagement between ASEAN and the G7. During the meeting, the Ministers discussed various issues of mutual interest such as, trade and investment, digital technology, cyber security, sustainable infrastructure development, public health and regional security. ASEAN welcomed the G7’s expression of support for ASEAN Centrality and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).
During the ASEAN-G7 meeting, YB Foreign Minister encouraged cooperation on climate change between ASEAN and the G7 to support the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Paris Agreement in accordance with the principles of equity, and “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”. He also expressed Malaysia’s commitment to multilateralism and the importance of initiatives that would further enhance trade liberalisation through a multilateral trading system centred on the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In this respect, YB Foreign Minister stated that Malaysia viewed anti-palm oil campaigns and resolutions as damaging to trade relations and contradictory to the principles of free trade. He emphasised that Malaysia maintains 55.3% of its land area under forest cover, which exceeds Malaysia’s commitment at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
During the thematic session on Indo-Pacific: Technology, Infrastructure & Shared Security, YB Foreign Minister reiterated Malaysia’s position on the situation in Myanmar and expressed appreciation for the support of the G7 members for ASEAN’s efforts with regard to the ASEAN Leaders’ Five-Point Consensus. YB Foreign Minister called for cooperation in capacity building to prevent, combat and counter criminal activities at sea. YB FM also reiterated Malaysia’s position on the South China Sea and stressed the importance of maintaining the South China Sea as a sea of trade, commerce and prosperity. He also called for ASEAN-G7 cooperation on digital economy as the main driver for a resilient and sustainable post-pandemic recovery. In this connection, he highlighted the need to focus on infrastructure and technology, talent, content and cost.
On the thematic session “Vaccines and Global Health Security”, Malaysia welcomed the G7’s commitment to speed up vaccine supply particularly for the poorer countries through COVAX. Malaysia also welcomed further innovation to develop more effective vaccines against COVID-19 and future health threats as well as ensuring that vaccines are distributed fairly and equitably to all, including through dose sharing, strengthening and opening supply chains, and expanding vaccine manufacturing capacity.
The G7 comprises the United Kingdom (current Chair of G7), Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. The Meeting noted that all G7 members were now ASEAN’s Dialogue or Development Partners, following the acceptance of the UK as Dialogue Partner earlier this year. In this light, Malaysia welcomed ASEAN enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation with the G7 in areas of common interest including resilient and sustainable post-pandemic recovery as well as promoting peace, stability, security and prosperity in the region.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia