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27.01.2023 (Обновлено: 02.02.2023 14:22)

EAEU and ASEAN intend to strengthen cooperation

Prospects for developing interaction between the Eurasian Economic Commission and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) within the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of economic cooperation were discussed by Sergei Glazyev, EEC Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics, and Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN Secretary-General, during a meeting held on January 27 at the ASEAN headquarters.

Sergei Glazyev has noted that deepening contacts with both the ASEAN and the Association’s Member States is one of the priorities of the EAEU's international activities enshrined in a number of key documents. He spoke in praise of the interaction between the Commission and the ASEAN Secretariat.

“The dialogue between our structures is primarily focused on the exchange of experience on deepening integration, improving the efficiency of associations, and approaches to strategic planning”, Sergei Glazyev stated. For this purpose, he made a special mention of the EAEU current integration agenda and informed on implementing the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025.

 

 For his part, Kao Kim Hourn confirmed the interest of the ASEAN Secretariat in further strengthening of ties with the EEC and the EAEU Member States and took a favorable view of implementing the Cooperation Program between the EEC and the ASEAN until 2025. He noted energy, food, tourism and digitalization of various aspects of economic activity as priority areas for the ASEAN to cooperate with the EAEU countries. Besides, he stressed the importance of developing contacts through business circles.

The meeting attendees discussed cooperation plans for the current year, in particular holding a joint seminar "Digital Transformation in the EAEU
and the ASEAN", participation in forums’ events in the territory of the EAEU countries, including with the involvement of the EAEU and the ASEAN business circles, as well as at the venues of other international organizations.

 

For reference

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an economic association founded in 1967. The Association members include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Papua New Guinea and East Timor have an observer status. This is one of the largest regional integration associations with a combined GDP of 2.6 trn US dollars, and a population of 622 mln people.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the EEC and the ASEAN was signed on November 14, 2018 in Singapore. The document underpins the formation of a dialogue platform for discussing a wide range of issues of interaction between integration blocks on the Eurasian continent scale.

To implement the memorandum, a Cooperation Program for 2020-2025 was adopted. It covers such spheres as customs legislation and law enforcement practice, trade policy, business activities, technical and antitrust regulation, SPS measures, energy, functioning of internal markets, etc.