The Nineteenth Meeting of the Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee, MSC on Transboundary Haze Pollution was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today and attended by ministers and representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Secretary-General of ASEAN. Brunei Darussalam was represented by Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Bahrin bin Abdullah, the Minister of Development and Awang Haji Muhammad Lutfi Abdullah, the Permanent Secretary (Administration and Finance), Ministry of Development.

The Ministers noted the various initiatives and actions taken by MSC countries to address transboundary haze pollution. The MSC countries reaffirmed their readiness to provide assistance, if requested, and work among MSC countries for emergency response when necessary, and called for enhanced cooperation and coordination to ensure the timely and effective deployment of international resources for firefighting assistance, mitigate land and forest fires, and to control smoke haze pollution.

The Ministers recalled the commitment and guidance of the ASEAN Leaders at the 30th ASEAN Summit held on 29 April 2017 in Manila towards regional cooperation on transboundary haze pollution control, including their concern over the rapidly changing climate and its adverse impacts, causing severe social and economic disruptions and damage throughout the region. The Ministers reiterated their commitment to fully and effectively implement the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution and the Roadmap on ASEAN Cooperation towards Transboundary Haze Pollution Control with Means of Implementation to achieve a Haze-Free ASEAN by 2020, including the comprehensive Plan of Action on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The Ministers recognised that it would be timely to conduct a mid-term review of the implementation of the Roadmap in 2018 to take stock of the progress and sustain momentum in ensuring demonstrable improvements so as to achieve the vision of a haze-free ASEAN by 2020.

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