Hanoi (VNA) – The Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) affirmed thecommitment to enhancing bilateral comprehensive cooperation at the 22nd ASEAN-EUMinisterial Meeting in Brussels on January 21.

Officials of foreign affairs of the 10 ASEANnations and 24 EU countries attended the meeting. Deputy Foreign MinisterNguyen Quoc Dung led the Vietnamese delegation to the event.

At the meeting, participants emphasised the twoblocs’ special relations as “partners in integration”.

ASEAN valued the EU as a leading partner,especially in economy and development. The EU is currently the second biggesttrade partner of ASEAN with bilateral trade reaching 261 billion USD in 2017,up 11.9 percent from the previous year. It is also the largest source offoreign investment of ASEAN when its direct investment here hit 25.4 billionUSD in 2017, accounting for 18.6 percent of the total foreign direct investmentin the region.

The EU also reiterated its support for ASEAN’scentral role and that it considers ASEAN as an important partner sharing manyinterests and strategic visions.

Ministers recognised the progress in bilateralrelations since the 21st ministerial meeting in 2016, particularly the successof the ASEAN-EU 40th Commemorative Summit in 2017 and the approval of theASEAN-EU Plan of Action 2018-2022.

At the meeting, they agreed to bolstercooperation in the fields of shared concern and interest likeeconomy-trade-investment, connectivity, climate change response, sustainabledevelopment, counter-terrorism, trans-national crime prevention, cyber security,and maritime security. The two sides also agreed to step up efforts towards anASEAN-EU free trade agreement on the basis of the bilateral deals between theEU and ASEAN member countries.

They also reached a consensus in principle ofupgrading ASEAN-EU relations to a strategic partnership, and adopted the jointstatement of the meeting.

Regarding international and regional issues, theministers exchanged views on complex and unpredictable developments of theglobal economic and political situation. They agreed to keep coordinating inthe promotion of multilateralism and open, fair and rules-based multilateraltrade systems, while working closely together to resolve global challenges,enhance dialogue, build trust and prevent conflicts.

As for the East Sea issue, participantscontinued to underline the importance of maintaining peace, stability, maritimesecurity and safety, and freedom of navigation and overflight, and respectingthe rule of law. They called on the sides relevant to make self-restraint, notthreaten to use or use force, and settle disputes by peaceful means in linewith international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Lawof the Sea.

The countries voiced support for ASEAN andChina’s efforts in effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct ofParties in the East Sea and working towards the early conclusion of a Code ofConduct (COC) in the waters.

Additionally, they welcomed the recent progresson the Korean Peninsula, affirming their support for and readiness to assistefforts towards sustainable peace and stability and complete denuclearisation onthe peninsula. They also emphasised the continuation of the serious and fullimplementation of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

On behalf of the ASEAN, Deputy Minister Dungdelivered a speech on the cooperation priorities between the two sides in 2019.He proposed orientations and measures to intensify substantive cooperation inthe areas matching the ASEAN’s demand and the EU’s strength such as climatechange response, counter-terrorism, trans-national crime prevention, cybersecurity, border management, illegal fishing prevention and sustainabledevelopment.

He also reaffirmed the ASEAN’s principled stanceon the East Sea issue and highlighted the strides in the building of the COCbetween ASEAN and China. The official added that the bloc supports the EU tocontribute to its efforts to maintain regional peace, security and stability.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Dung hadbilateral meetings with officials of Belgium, Romania, Greece, Hungary, theEuropean Council and the European Commission to promote the signing andratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the bilateralinvestment protection agreement, and discussed other issues of bilateralrelations.-VNA