Joint Statement and Action Plan: The Fourth Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD IV) – (Non-UN Document)

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11 July 2025

CO-CHAIRS’ JOINT STATEMENT

THE FOURTH CONFERENCE ON COOPERATION AMONG EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES FOR PALESTINIAN DEVELOPMENT (CEAPAD IV)

11 JULY 2025, KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

1. The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD IV) was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 11 July 2025. The CEAPAD IV was co-chaired by His Excellency Mohamad bin Haji Hasan, Foreign Minister of Malaysia, and His Excellency IWAYA Takeshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. The Ministers welcomed His Excellency Dr. Estephan Salameh, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of Palestine, the Special Guest as the Co-Chair.
2. The Palestinian Minister expressed deep appreciation to CEAPAD partners for their unwavering solidarity and support during this critical time and called on all the CEAPAD partners to increase their humanitarian aid to Gaza and contribute to its recovery and reconstruction and the development efforts across Palestine.
3. We expressed grave concern on the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, stressed that all acts of violence must stop to ensure the safety, protection and the well-being of all civilians and emphasized that addressing the needs of the Palestinian people across Palestine is vital to ensuring inclusive and sustainable development. We called for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in Gaza to allow for the swift, safe, and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid at scale throughout Gaza in full compliance of international law. We reaffirmed our collective commitment to the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, based on a two-state solution, in accordance with the United Nations Charter, international law and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.
4. We shared the need for concerted efforts by the entire international community to address Palestinian needs, amid the emergence of enormous early-recovery and reconstruction needs in Palestine in addition to urgent humanitarian needs, particularly in Gaza. We reaffirmed the important role of CEAPAD, which was launched by Japan in February 2013 to support Palestinian state-building efforts and concurred on revitalizing the CEAPAD framework to urgently address Palestinians’ needs, especially in critical areas, such as, among others, immediate humanitarian response, early-recovery and reconstruction, economic, social and cultural development, and institutional reforms and governance. We will promote the CEAPAD partnership, by making use of their own strengths through delivering technical cooperation projects for human resource development and capacity-building in forms of bilateral or triangular cooperation.
5. We emphasized the need to continue partnership with humanitarian agencies including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and to utilize existing humanitarian coordination mechanism and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Flash Appeal for Palestine, in order to streamline resources, avoid duplication of efforts and strengthen coordination. They also recalled the importance of the reconstruction vision for the Gaza population that the Arab and Islamic countries have proactively put forward to the international community.
6. We underscored that these efforts would complement the implementation of national Palestinian development frameworks, including the National Program for Development and Reform (NPDR), to ensure coherence, sustainability, and advancement of Palestinian-led priorities.
7. Recognizing that economic viability of Palestine is essential to achieve lasting peace and stability, we underscored the importance of multi-stakeholder partnership including the role of the private sector in the reconstruction of Gaza and socio-economic development of Palestine as a whole. We underscored the importance of inclusive development, ensuring the active participation of women, youth, and marginalized communities in recovery and state-building efforts.
8. We recalled successful projects such as the Jericho Agricultural and Processing Park (JAIP), a flagship project of the Japanese “Corridor for Peace and Prosperity” Initiative, as well as Malaysia’s continued support and contribution for Palestine, including through the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) over the last 20 years.
9. The Ministers adopted the CEAPAD IV Kuala Lumpur Action Plan, attached hereto, which encompasses priority areas of CEAPAD partnership based on Palestinian needs and commensurate with the reality on the ground. The Action Plan will guide the CEAPAD partners to intensify, revitalize, coordinate and synergize their assistance for Palestine.
10. The Ministers concurred on holding senior official meetings on a regular basis to follow up on the progress made in the implementation of CEAPAD IV Kuala Lumpur Action Plan.
11. The Ministers thanked the Government of Malaysia for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements extended to CEAPAD IV Delegates.