1. We, the Foreign Ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia – comprising MIKTA – held the 18th MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today via videoconference. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Kang Kyung-wha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. This meeting marked the conclusion of Korea’s year-long MIKTA chairmanship.
2. We note with satisfaction that MIKTA, since its launch in 2013, has brought together five countries across regions, each with its unique cultural and historical background. The history of MIKTA – including eighteen Foreign Ministers’ Meetings, ten Senior Officials’ Meetings, six Parliament Speakers’ Consultations and over seventy joint statements delivered on various occasions – demonstrates that our shared resolve to strengthen global governance and protect public goods transcends our diversity.
3. In the midst of global challenges that cannot be tackled by countries acting alone, including the COVID-19 pandemic, this shared resolve holds more weight than ever. Reasserting our commitment to multilateralism, we are pleased to acknowledge the successful delivery of the first-ever head-of-state-level statement made on behalf of MIKTA at the United Nations, which demonstrates MIKTA’s solidarity and commitment to upholding multilateralism. At the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations on 21 September 2020, H.E. Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea, speaking on behalf of MIKTA, highlighted the bridging role played by each member in promoting multilateral cooperation amidst the pandemic and reaffirmed our pledge to tackle global challenges through multilateral approaches, including by ensuring our multilateral institutions remain effective and fit for purpose. We reiterate our continued support for the United Nations system and initiatives such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, amongst others, to ensure an effective response to our common challenges. We welcome the emphasis of the President of the UN General Assembly on multilateralism, which is fitting with MIKTA’s priorities and are ready to work together in ensuring effective and efficient functioning of the UN General Assembly in the face of the challenges posed by COVID-19.
4. Noting the importance of strengthening our preparedness for global health crises, we reiterate the MIKTA Foreign Ministers’ Joint Statement on the COVID-19 pandemic and global health issued on 9 April 2020, in which we affirmed our commitment to acting in full solidarity to overcome the pandemic while minimizing its economic and social impacts. MIKTA countries will continue to collaborate and exchange best practices, including to achieve extensive immunization against COVID-19.
5. We call for equitable access and distribution of safe, affordable and effective COVID-19 vaccines for all, so that no country is left behind. We call upon all stakeholders to further strengthen international cooperation in this regard.
6. We are pleased to note further progress made thereafter, including the launch of dialogue channels among our health ministries, ministries in charge of women affairs, development cooperation agencies and academic experts. We also welcome the first-ever MIKTA Foreign Affairs and Health Senior Officials’ Joint Meeting (2+2), which was held on 26 November 2020 with a view to promoting inter-disciplinary collaboration to strengthen the multilateral health security architecture, including through the independent evaluation mandated in World Health Assembly resolution 73.1 ‘COVID-19 Response’, and based upon our shared commitment to: strengthen the World Health Organization; implement the International Health Regulations (2005); and a One-Health approach. We look forward to this meeting serving as a valuable platform for deepening MIKTA collaboration on health security and related issues.
7. Recognizing the risk of our hard-won gains on sustainable development being reversed due to the pandemic, we reassert our unwavering commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and underscore the need to accelerate its implementation in the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Given the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on people who may be vulnerable or in vulnerable situations, we reiterate the importance of upholding the “leave no one behind” principle embraced in the SDGs. We are committed to the implementation of the International Year on Creative Economy for Sustainable Development 2021. We welcome the holding of the first meeting among our development cooperation agencies to reflect on common challenges in implementing development cooperation projects in the midst of the pandemic. We also note with appreciation the delivery of joint statements among our delegations in various international fora, including the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment. We reiterate our confidence in ECOSOC’s work aimed at accelerating the implementation of SDGs and will support efforts of Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and Australia in ECOSOC during their membership.
8. Given the growing challenges our planet is faced with, including disasters from droughts, desertification, loss of biodiversity, food shortages, water scarcity, wildfires, and sea-level rise, we reiterate our commitment to building back better and recovering stronger, including by investing more in research, innovation and infrastructure to strengthen environmental sustainability, adaptation, and resilience against the adverse effects of climate change and disaster risks. To achieve sustainable development, we underscore the need to step up our efforts to change the patterns of production and consumption in a sustainable manner and address the high level of greenhouse gas emissions through international cooperation.
9. Underlining the importance of protecting and promoting human rights, we emphasize that particular attention should be given to people who may be vulnerable, or in vulnerable situations, who bear the brunt of the pandemic, including women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, refugees, internally displaced people, workers in the informal economy, and migrants. In this spirit, we note with appreciation the holding of a virtual dialogue among the MIKTA ministers in charge of women affairs on 8 October 2020, during which participants discussed ways to mitigate and reverse the disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on women and girls, including access to education, and to continue to advance gender equality. We also appreciate the joint efforts of our permanent missions to the United Nations in organizing the annual MIKTA event in observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. We encourage this momentum to continue on the path ahead.
10. As open economies benefitting from international trade and investment, we affirm the importance of promoting and strengthening a universal, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory, equitable, and rules-based multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its center. In the midst of trade and travel disruptions caused by the pandemic, we reaffirm that emergency measures must be targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary, that they must not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains, and that they must be consistent with WTO principles and rules. We demonstrate our ongoing support for the necessary reform of the WTO, including in the lead up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, to ensure the organization’s effectiveness, relevance and capacity to address current and emerging challenges. We will further our efforts to facilitate the integration of micro, small and medium enterprises into global markets and to support entrepreneurship.
11. Acknowledging Indonesia’s contribution to the work of the United Nations Security Council during its 2019-2020 term and looking forward to Mexico’s dedicated work in the Council during its 2021-2022 term, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthening the UN’s architecture for the maintenance of international peace and security, as well as the mainstreaming of gender perspectives across the work of the Council. In this regard, we welcome the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2538 in August 2020 on the role of women in peacekeeping operations, which Indonesia led and MIKTA countries co-sponsored. We also note with appreciation the delivery of a joint statement at the Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) on 29 October 2020, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325, which set the foundation for the WPS agenda. We also look forward to a successful organization of the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference to be hosted by the Republic of Korea this year.
12. Recognizing the 50th anniversary of the cornerstone Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2020, MIKTA countries remain steadfastly committed to efforts in pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons.
13. We agree that dialogue is the only way to achieve permanent peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and welcome the Republic of Korea’s continued efforts to promote and accelerate peace, security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. We urge the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to refrain from actions that can increase instability on the Korean Peninsula and to make a sustained commitment to dialogue. We also call on the DPRK to bring about complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, including through the full and expeditious implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration. We reaffirm support for the full implementation of all UNSC resolutions on the DPRK. We commend the Republic of Korea for organizing the International Conference of UN Sending States on Veterans’ Issues on 10 November 2020 in Busan with the participation of 22 UN Sending States to the Korean War to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its outbreak.
14. We appreciate the valuable participation of various stakeholders from MIKTA countries to advance our common agenda. We believe that multi-stakeholder partnerships engaging parliaments, academia and civil society, as well as government institutions, are crucial for deepening our bilateral ties and mobilizing various sources of innovation. In this regard, we welcome the holding of the 6th MIKTA Parliament Speakers’ Consultation on 17 December 2020, during which participants underscored the importance of parliamentary leadership to overcome global challenges. We also note with appreciation the holding of the MIKTA Academic Dialogue on 18 September 2020, during which academic experts from MIKTA countries discussed ways to enhance MIKTA’s global contribution in the post-pandemic era. We also note with appreciation the meaningful engagement with youths through various outreach programs.
15. We are concerned over the recent political situation in Myanmar and we call for the adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government. Furthermore, we urge all parties in Myanmar to exercise self-restraint and put forth dialogue in finding solutions.
16. We express our gratitude to the Republic of Korea for its leadership as MIKTA chair in 2020 and note with satisfaction the collective achievements accomplished during the past year, particularly in strengthening our collaboration in multilateral fora and expanding areas of cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to further cooperation among MIKTA members and continued progress under Australia’s leadership in 2021.
