HIS Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday consented to attend the 9th East Asia Summit (EAS) at the Myanmar International Convention Centre, Nay Pyi Taw.

The summit was also attended by heads of state and government of Asean, Australia, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and the United States of America, as well as the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and the President of the Asia Development Bank.

During the summit, His Majesty delivered a titah and congratulated Malaysia and New Zealand on their successful bid as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.

His Majesty said this year, the region has wit-nessed many worrying developments around the globe. The impact of the Ebola virus outbreak has caused much devastation in West Africa and is now considered a potential threat to international peace, security and the economy, which requires urgent attention, and we also need to collectively address this at the national, regional and inter-national levels, to contain the outbreak and pre-vent further spread of the virus.

His Majesty further added that there is much that can be done together, by sharing data and best practices to control this disease, and also through methods such as a regional alert and response system for surveillance, monitoring and investigation.

His Majesty hoped to see more concrete efforts on this and fully welcomed the Joint Statement of the 9th East Asia Summit on Regional Response on the spread of Ebola.

His Majesty added that Brunei also shares the concerns of the international community on the rise of violence and brutality committed by terrorist and extremist organisations in the Middle East.

“We strongly believe in the need to combat terrorism in all its forms and reject extremism, as this is not a localised problem, but one that could have its roots from and effects extended to other regions. This concern should be addressed in a comprehensive manner, by identifying the underlying factors that support terrorism and lead to radicalism.”

His Majesty also stated that Brunei encourages inter-faith dialogues among cultures, religions and civilisations that generate mutual trust and understanding, and continue to support Malaysia’s Global Movement of Moderates.

People need to also understand that these re-cent acts of violence have nothing to do with any religion, let alone Islam. In this regard, His Majesty welcomes the statement that will be issued.

His Majesty also highlighted that last year, the main focus was on food security and, among others, a study group was established to look into fisheries and maritime resources. With the belief that these initiatives supplemented the work regionally and globally, His Majesty en-couraged the relevant officials to translate the re-commendations into actions. Faced with all these challenges, it is important for us to be able to share ideas and experiences on how to address them.

His Majesty added that as East Asia works towards a sustainable future for the people, a similar approach should also be considered for securing a peaceful and stable environment in the region.

His Majesty believed the EAS workshop on security has been useful and has made a positive impact on exchanging views on how security arrangements can evolve.

His Majesty would be happy to hear more about its outcomes in the future, as we work towards an Asean-led regional security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region.

His Majesty also reminded that next year is the East Asia Summit’s 10th anniversary and we should now look at what has been done and consider the way forward.

The leaders attending the summit also dis-cussed matters on the Non-Traditional Security Issues, Climate Change and Disaster Management and Pandemic Diseases. - Borneo Bulletin (14 November 2014)