Concerted efforts by all members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) is vital to face the uphill task of economic recovery and rebuilding the livelihood of their citizens in the aftermath of covid-19, State Minister for Regional Cooperation, Tharaka Balasuriya, who represented Sri Lanka told the Forum on Saturday (12.)

This meeting was held virtually. In his statement Balasuriya commended the role of ARF as a proponent of peace, stability and prosperity in the region. He also called for collective efforts of the ARF member states to address traditional and non-traditional security threats.

“Concerted efforts by all members of the ARF are vital to face the uphill task of economic recovery and rebuilding the livelihood of its citizens in the aftermath of the global pandemic. In that context, achieving prosperity and promoting a people centric economic development plan is key,” Balasuriya said.

Traditional and non-traditional security issues are no longer confined to the geographical boundaries of a respective country. Therefore Sri Lanka believes that regional stability and recovery, practical security cooperation, maritime and cyber security, counter terrorism and transnational crimes and non-proliferation and disarmament can only be addressed through a regional effort, he said.

“Sri Lanka understands that the misuse of information and communication technology (ICT) as a major threat to global security. We need a collective effort to address and mitigate threats such as Cybercrime, cyber – attacks on critical infrastructure. ARF as a regional mechanism, has dealt successfully in countering terrorism and transnational crimes and underscored that in tackling these problems,” he said.

The 27th ARF adopted the Hanoi Plan of Action II (HPOA) which is to be implemented through the years 2020-2025. HPOA I which was the first in a series of plans of action building up to the realisation of the goals of the ASEAN vision 2020 which was adopted in 1997 which covered the period 1999-2004. HPOA II will serve as a sequel to the latter which is intended to build closer regional integration, consolidating and strengthening the economic fundamentals of the Member Countries.

The 27th ASEAN Regional Forum was represented by Malaysia, Canada, Indonesia, United States of America, The Philippines, Japan, Cambodia, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Australia, Lao PDR, New Zealand, Thailand, China, European Union, Bangladesh, Timore Leste, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, India, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Russia and Viet Nam.

ASEAN Regional Forum was established under the aegis of the ASEAN in 1993 and Sri Lanka has been a member of the ARF since 2007.