Full text of a financial joint statement by S. Korea, Japan and China

FUKUOKA, Japan, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- The following is the full text of a South
Korea-Japan-China joint statement on tripartite financial and economic
cooperation issued after their leaders held summit talks in Fukuoka, Japan, on
Saturday.

Joint Statement on the International Finance and Economy

The three leaders of the People???s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of
Korea shared the view that it is necessary to strengthen cooperation among the
three countries in order to cope with the situation, in an effective manner,
where the world economy and the financial markets are facing serious challenges.
The three leaders underlined the importance of a series of international meetings
and cooperative efforts aimed at stabilizing financial markets and restoring
global growth. In particular, they reaffirmed their commitment to implement the
Declaration of the Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, including
"Action Plan to Implement Principles for Reform."
The three leaders stressed the importance of further enhancing regional
cooperation to address the turmoil of financial markets. They welcomed the
results of the Trilateral Finance Ministers??? Meeting among China, Japan and
Korea on 14 November 2008 in Washington D.C. and the recent decisions on the
increase in the size of the bilateral swap arrangements among the three
countries. They also welcomed the setting up of the Tripartite Governors???
Meeting of the Three Central Banks to be held on a regular basis, announced on 10
December 2008. They also reiterated their commitment to work with ASEAN members
to expedite the process of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization and
strengthen the regional surveillance mechanism for effective monitoring on the
regional economy and financial markets. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would
play an important role in assisting developing countries in the Asian region
affected by the financial turmoil, in particular for infrastructure development
and trade finance. To this end, they called for an early agreement on the Fifth
General Capital Increase of ADB.
The three leaders shared the view that efforts need to be strengthened to
minimize the negative impacts that the current financial turmoil could have on
the world economy, and to facilitate trade and investment in the region as well
as promote the regional cooperation. They shared the view that Asian countries
are expected to play a role as ???the center of world economic growth??? in order
to reverse the downward trend of the world economy and return it to the path of
sustainable growth. They affirmed three countries should play a greater role in
this regard. They welcomed that "Action Agenda for Improvement of The Business
Environment" for three countries was made public.
The three leaders reiterated their commitment to investment and trade in goods
and services, as set forth in the Declaration of the Summit on Financial Markets
and the World Economy and the Lima APEC Leaders??? Statement on the Global
Economy. Moreover, in order to counter protectionism, they declared that the
three governments would continue to make efforts, to reach an ambitious,
balanced, and comprehensive conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda as early as
possible. They also shared the view that, within the next 12 months, the three
governments will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in
goods and services, from imposing new export restrictions, or from implementing
WTO inconsistent measures to stimulate exports.
The three leaders emphasized the importance of promoting cooperation among Asian
countries not only in the financial sector but also in the real economy. They
also confirmed the significance of measures that will reinforce growth and expand
domestic demand and are determined to work closely and strengthen the trilateral
cooperation to facilitate Asian countries??? efforts in order to overcome the
negative impacts resulting from the current international financial crisis and
achieve self-sustainable growth in Asia. In this regard, they reaffirmed the
importance of assisting the steadfast progress of ASEAN integration.
(END)