ASEAN and the EC agree to strengthen cooperation
ASEAN and the EC agree to strengthen cooperation
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the
European Commission (EC) agreed on Saturday to work to toward
future cooperation.
The EC is the executive arm of the European Union (EU).
"The work plan would reflect the priorities of both sides and
include a practical time frame, in order to facilitate, expedite
and move forward the implementation of ASEAN-EC cooperation of
programs," the organizations announced at the end of the two-day
15th ASEAN-EC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting on
Saturday in Jakarta.
The last meeting was held in September 2001 in Brussels.
During the JCC meeting, which was co-chaired by Marty
Natalegawa, director general of ASEAN-Indonesia and Erich Muller,
director for Asia, the EuropeAid Cooperation Office of the
European Commission, both the organizations reviewed their
cooperation since 2001 and reaffirmed their commitment to promote
cooperation with a special focus on policy dialog on mutually
beneficial areas based on the Bali Concord II, Vientiane Action
Program and the New Partnership strategy.
"We agreed to develop and implement joint initiatives based on
common interests, in line with their respective regional
priorities and needs," the groups said.
Marty, who is also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' chief
spokesman, said ASEAN briefed its counterpart on the tsunami
disaster that killed more than 100,000 people in Indonesia.
"We exchanged information about the recent developments in
both the regions. ASEAN appreciated the EC's commitment to
assisting tsunami-affected countries," Marty said.
Muller described the meeting, which also discussed the agenda
for the forthcoming ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting as successful.
"We are moving forward," Muller said.
When asked about the agenda of the ministerial meeting, Marty
said it would review the developments in the ASEAN and EU
regions.
"The meeting will focus on the issue of reconstruction and
rehabilitation of the tsunami-affected areas. It will also
discuss the international problems like terrorism and
transnational crimes," Marty said.
Muller said the EU's external relations commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner along with several ministers from the EU member-
states would attend the ministerial meeting.
Marty said Myanmar had been invited but still had not
confirmed it would attend.
The next JCC meeting will be held in Brussels in 2006.