Switzerland supports ASEAN’s central role

Delegates at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

(BDO) The fourth meeting of the ASEAN-Switzerland Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AS-JSCC) took place at the headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia on November 29. 
Ambassador and head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh attended the meeting.

The two sides compared notes on each side’s situation and reviewed cooperation over the past years, especially the implementation of the List of Priorities for Cooperation under the ASEAN-Switzerland Sectoral Dialogue Relations for 2017-2018 and the Action Plan for the ASEAN-Switzerland Practical Cooperation Areas (CPA) 2017-2021.

During 2018 and 2019, Switzerland provided over 9 million USD in aid for 22 ASEAN – Switzerland joint projects.

The Swiss side affirmed that it attaches importance to ties with ASEAN, supports ASEAN’s central role in the region, and wishes to build closer ties with the bloc in the three pillars of economy, trade and investment.

It welcomed the adoption of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, expressed support for linkage between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals till 2023, and economic development during the fourth industrial revolution.

Switzerland pledged to continue assisting ASEAN in building the community and realising ASEAN Vision 2025, and welcomed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

On the East Sea issue, the European country highlighted the principle of behaving based on international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The two sides promised to continue working closely together and promptly carried out the remaining lines of actions under the CPA 2017-2021, especially in fields of mutual concern such as trade and investment facilitation, digital economy, cooperation in cyber security, connectivity strengthening, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration on narrowing development gap, the ASEAN Smart Cities Network, support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, education-training, human resources development, tourism, environment issues, disaster management and climate change response.

Switzerland became a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN in July 2016. During the first AS-JSCC meeting, both sides agreed on the List of Priorities for Cooperation for 2017-2018.

They later adopted the CPA 2017 – 2021 during the second meeting./.

VNA