They agreed to explore the potential collaboration in the four priority areas of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and the seven ones of the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, all in accordance with the principles of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Charter, and the AOIP.

They both acknowledged the launch of the Team Europe Initiative on Sustainable Connectivity and the operationalisation of the Green Team Europe Initiative of the EU, which aim to enhance ASEAN-EU cooperation and be complemented by concrete projects at both regional and national levels across Southeast Asia, and welcomed the EU's expected contribution of around10 billion EUR (10.54 billion USD) for the implementation of Global Gateway in the ASEAN region.

The two sides reaffirmed the importance of and their commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and related Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, with a view to promoting sustainable development and addressing the global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental protection.

In the spirit of mutual cooperation, they both welcomed the convening of the 2nd joint Working Group (JWG) on Palm Oil between relevant ASEAN member states and the EU as per the agreed Terms of Reference and the relevant parties’ continued constructive discussion pertaining to sustainable vegetable oil production in the said JWG.

Besides, ASEAN and the EU welcomed the continued wide-ranging, substantive policy dialogues between ASEAN and EU counterparts supported by the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI), which promotes dialogue and cooperation on a wide range of policy areas of shared interest. 

They both reaffirmed their commitment to intensify engagement on ASEAN-EU trade and economic issues and to explore other avenues in the short and medium terms to promote cooperation in areas of mutual interest such as digital economy, green technologies and green services and supply chain resilience, while reaffirming a future ASEAN-EU FTA as a common long-term objective.

The meeting welcomed joint efforts to promote ASEAN-EU connectivity, including through the Global Gateway Team Europe Initiative on Sustainable Connectivity for ASEAN and agreed to enhance digital cooperation as reflected in the ASEANEU joint Ministerial Statement on Connectivity and in line with the stated vision of the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025.

ASEAN and the EU welcomed the growing engagement between the two sides on a broad range of security and defence-related issues, including the EU’s active engagement as co-chair of the thematic work stream on counter-terrorism and transnational crime (CTTC) for the 2020-2022 period, extended until 2023, within the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Source: VNA