His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday welcomed United States' proposal for a maritime partnership which His Majesty said will very much benefit enforcement officials.

His Majesty also offered to work with the United States in the English Training Programme for Asean to enhance Asean-US cooperation.

At the 3rd Asean-US Leaders' Meeting yesterday held at the 19th Asean Summit and Related Summits hosted by Indonesia at the island resort of Bali, His Majesty also noted that the efforts to advance Asean-US economic cooperation under the Asean-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) through the new 2012 Work Plan will further increase the exchanges between the public and private sectors and facilitate trade and investment.

His Majesty said he is happy to learn that the US would like to support Asean's endeavours, especially Asean's Master Plan on Asean Connectivity such as the promotion of further education exchanges between Asean and the US.

His Majesty also noted that Asean and the US were already working closely in a number of areas such as combating transnational crimes and in responding to natural disasters through the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), Asean Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) and the East Asia Summit (EAS).

His Majesty added that joint activities and sharing of best practices have made Asean-US cooperation more meaningful. In this regard, His Majesty welcomed the US proposal for a maritime partnership which will very much benefit enforcement officials.

His Majesty expressed his pleasure to work with the US on an English language training programme for Asean. Brunei looks forward to opening up this initiative and would welcome other Asean members to join in.

His Majesty said that this will complement current efforts to narrow development gaps in the region, supporting the Initiative for Asean Integration (IAI). The project would also cultivate understanding of one another's culture and help to promote, among others, Malaysia's Global Movement of Moderates Initiative. - Borneo Bulletin (19th Novempber 2011)