MOSCOW, 3 February (BelTA) – The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will extend the cooperation program till 2025. This matter was in focus of a meeting between Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Mikhail Myasnikovich and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi in Moscow on 3 February, BelTA learned from the EEC press service.
Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that this meeting was his first international event in the capacity of the chairman of the EEC Board. “We will maintain the continuity and dynamics of cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat. I suggest extending our cooperation program till 2025. This will enable us to launch long-term projects and initiatives,” Mikhail Myasnikovich said.
He said that the ASEAN member states are important partners for the EAEU participating states. The importance of intensifying the dialogue with ASEAN as one of key partners was also reflected in the initiatives of Belarus' presidency in the EAEU in 2020, the press service noted.
Mikhail Myasnikovich believes that despite vibrant trade between the countries of the two unions (the trade totaled about $25 billion), the trade could be bigger. The Vietnam-EAEU free trade agreement can serve as an example of closer cooperation. “Trade is important, but it is also advisable to step up investment and sci-tech cooperation, including industrial cooperation,” he said. “The EAEU member states have a strong investment potential, and boast new knowledge and technologies that could be of interest to ASEAN partners. For example, Belarus has already set up several joint ventures in the ASEAN members states,” he added.
Mikhail Myasnikovich invited the ASEAN secretary general to take part in the Eurasian Economic Forum due in Minsk in May and in the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in June.
In turn, Lim Jock Hoi congratulated Mikhail Myasnikovich on his appointment as the chairman of the EEC Board and noted that his considerable expertise will contribute greatly to the work of the commission. Lim Jock Hoi supported Mikhail Myasnikovich's proposals. “The memorandum of understanding between the EEC and ASEAN encompasses a lot of areas. There is indeed the need to extend the cooperation program,” he said. Moreover, he emphasized the need for consistent removal of barriers in trade.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an economic organization that was established in 1967. It consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Papua New Guinea and East Timor have the status of observers. This is one of the largest regional integration unions with the total GDP of $2.6 trillion, foreign trade of $2.5 trillion, and the total population of 622 million people.
The memorandum of understanding between the EAEU and ASEAN was signed in Singapore on 14 November 2018. The document lays the basis for a dialogue on a large scope of matters concerning cooperation between the two integration unions. The parties adopted a cooperation program for 2019-2020 in order to implement the memorandum. The program covers such areas as customs legislation, law enforcement, trade policy, business activity, technical and antimonopoly regulation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, power industry, and operation of domestic markets.
