20th ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting comes to an end
Introduction: The two-day 20th ASEAN-European Union (EU) Ministerial Meeting or AEMM ended in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, July 23. Laos was represented by Deputy Minister of Foreing Affairs Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alounkeo Kittikhoun.
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Story: The 20th EU-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, under the theme of “Towards Strategic Partnership for Peace, Stability and Prosperity”, was held on 23 July 2014.
The Ministers underlined the importance of EU-ASEAN Dialogue Relations, which have matured through 37 years of partnership. Ministers welcomed the progress of EU-ASEAN relations since the 19th EU-ASEAN Ministerial in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, in 2012.
To realize the vision, both sides will increase political-security dialogues and consultations at international forums, in order to promote their voice, role, and contributions to the world’s peace, stability and development.
On the economic front, the EU and ASEAN aim to boost two-way trade by strengthening aviation, navigation and road connectivity, resuming Free Trade Agreement negotiations after 2015, supporting small-and-medium sized businesses, and holding economic consultations between their economic ministers. The EU promised to help ASEAN improve regional connectivity and increase its development assistance for ASEAN to 170 million EUR for 2014-2020,doubling that of the 2007-2013 period.
At the meeting, the ministers unanimously conveyed their heartfelt condolences to the countries and families affected by the tragic downing of flight MH17. They also reviewed the progress made in furthering the ASEAN-EU relationship under the Bandar Seri Begawan Plan of Action to Strengthen the ASEAN-EU Enhanced Partnership (2013-2017) and discussed ways to build on the strong level of cooperation between the two regions.
Source: Lao National Television News in English
Broadcast on July 29, 2014
