EU, ASEAN reaffirm to boost comprehensive cooperation

A meeting of senior officials from the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that took place in Brussels on February 10-11 reaffirmed to boost cooperation in the areas of shared interests.

The two sides discussed numerous measures to further promote comprehensive partnership from assistance for natural disaster control and climate change response to cooperation in education, scientific research, marine security, cybersecurity, sustainable development, and support for ASEAN small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Besides, they focused on discussing the circular economy, open and rules-based trade and the importance in enhancing exchange, investment and connectivity, especially the early completion of an ASEAN-EU comprehensive agreement on aviation transportation, smart city development, as well as dialogues on political and security issues of common concern.

The EU is the second largest trade partner of ASEAN with bilateral trade hitting 282.2 billion USD in 2018, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier. It also ASEAN’s largest source of foreign investment with total FDI reaching 22 billion USD in 2018.

The EU affirmed their support for ASEAN’s central role, and considered the grouping an important partner./.

VNA