The haze problem will be one of the main issues addressed by the Forum on Environment and Health in South-East and East Asian Countries.
Malaysia will chair the forum for the next three years.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry would use the platform for co-operation among the 14 countries to address cross-boundary issues.
“That is an area we will look at closely. For example, the issue of haze which three or four countries touched on at the meeting. We will see how we can cooperate to find regional consensus on managing it,” he said during a press conference at the Third Ministerial Regional Forum on Environment and Health in South-East and East Asian Countries yesterday.
Dr Subramaniam added that the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry had been engaging all levels, including highlighting the issue at Asean meetings on the haze.
He added that there was positive commitment from the Indonesian representatives at the forum as they were taking serious measures to address air pollution affecting neighbouring countries.
The forum also produced and endorsed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Environment and Health.
In the declaration, the ministers of environment and health from 14 countries agreed to commit to action plans that put sustainable environment and health at the centre of development.
