ASEAN transport ministers to strengthen cooperation amid pandemic

JOINT STATEMENT OF ASEAN AND CHINA TRANSPORT MINISTERS ON ENSURING SMOOTH TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS TO COMBAT COVID-19 AND REACTIVATE THE ECONOMY

16 July 2020

WE, the Transport Ministers of ASEAN Member States and the People's Republic of China, have convened the ASEAN-China Transport Ministers' Special Meeting on COVID-19 on 16 July 2020 through Video Conference.

Recognizing that the global COVID-19 pandemic poses unprecedented threats and challenges to the whole world, including the severe disruption to economies and the devastating impact on the livelihoods of people,

Expressing our profound condolences to those families whose lives have been tragically affected by this pandemic,

Noting that, in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and its impacts, various immediate and necessary measures have been taken by States, including restricting travel, closing borders, and limiting the frequencies of inbound and outbound flights and vessel sailings,

Recognizing that the adverse impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the economy, particularly including but not limited to the travel and tourism, manufacturing, retail, transport, and other services sectors as well as the disruption of supply chains and the financial markets,

Also recognizing our interconnectedness and vulnerabilities in the face of COVID-19, and emphasizing the critical importance of a coherent, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder approach in ensuring ASEAN Member States' and China's timely and effective response to the pandemic based on public health and economic consideration by ASEAN Member States and China,

Recalling the Chairman's Statement of the 36th ASEAN Summit to welcome the holding of Ministerial meetings with Dialogue Partners to exchange views and explore cooperation to mitigate, control and respond to the impact of COVID-19, and reaffirming the commitments of our leaders in ASEAN Vision Leaders' Statement on a Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN to further intensify cooperation with ASEAN's partners, other regional and global entities, as well as the Declaration of the Special ASEAN Summit on Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Joint Statement of the Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on Coronavirus Disease 2019 to enhance collective response to public health emergencies, mitigating socio economic impact of COVID-19 and future pandemics,

Realizing that about 90% of the necessities in the global trade supply chain such as energy and raw materials rely on global transport,

Reiterating our commitment to fostering a seamless and efficient transport and logistics system since the jointly launched ASEAN-China Transport Ministers' Meeting in 2002, which has greatly boosted cooperation between ASEAN and China in this field and enhanced fundamental infrastructure and facilitation for trade flows,

Recognizing in particular that transport and logistics play an important role and continue to be at the forefront of global response to COVID-19 pandemic in terms of ensuring the smooth and timely supply of essential goods and services,