E.U. to focus on deepening economic ties with ASEAN: diplomat

The diplomat said that the signing of the E.U.-ASEAN comprehensive air transport agreement, the first ever region-to-region aviation agreement in 2022, will provide quite a boost to air connectivity between the 37 countries involved.

The E.U. wants to invest more in the region, he said, adding that leaders of the union have announced 10 billion EUR (10.88 billion USD) in investment in Southeast Asia in the next couple of years through the "Global Gateway" sustainable investments in the region at a hope to address some of ASEAN’s big connectivity needs and build on some of the successes in that respect of our previous cooperation.

He noted that the E.U. has already signed free trade agreements (FTA) with Singapore and Vietnam. The union will open negotiations for FTAs with other ASEAN countries, while resuming FTA negotiations with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Driesmans said that the E.U.'s second priority is to develop a joint green and sustainable agenda with the region, which is a top priority for the E.U. and for its partnership with ASEAN.

He said that the union is rolling out the E.U. Green Deal to make the E.U. circular, carbon neutral economy by 2050. Therefore, it need to partner with ASEAN to make that a reality because due to rapid growth, ASEAN as the entire region is increasingly a CO ₂ emitter.

The E.U. has been developing quite a few cooperation projects and programmes with ASEAN, for example, to support Smart Green cities to improve biodiversity to manage peatlands more sustainably, he noted. "So we will want to scale up that ambition, do much more in terms of cooperation, and add a political dimension to our work. And we look forward to work with Indonesia to hold the first ever E.U.-ASEAN environmental ministerial meeting. This year, and I will add one other dialogue that we will be opening is a dialogue on energy with ASEAN."

The diplomat said that the third priority is security partnership as there’s a number of security issues in both of our regions, especially Myanmar in Southeast Asia, and Ukraine in Europe.

The E.U. hopes to work with ASEAN to ensure free and open maritime supply routes in the East Sea in full compliance with international law, in particular the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, he said, pledging that the union will also support the negotiations for a Code of Conduct on the East Sea (South China Sea).

The ambassador also underlined other priorities of the E.U. in promoting Indo-Pacific partnership, and ensuring a safe, prosperous ASEAN. The E.U. hopes for stronger and even stronger partnership building on the momentum of the E.U.-ASEAN Summit in December, he added.

Source: VNA