Senior officials of ASEAN member countries and Russia gathered in Vientiane, Laos on March 29 to review the ASEAN-Russia cooperation over the past year.
Scene at the 14th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials’ Meeting in Vientiane on March 29 (Photo: KPL)
Vientiane (VNA) – Senior officials of ASEAN membercountries and Russia gathered in Vientiane, Laos on March 29 to review theASEAN-Russia cooperation over the past year, especially after the Summitcommemorating the 20th anniversary of the bilateral dialoguepartnership in March 2016 in Sochi, Russia.
The meeting, the 14th of its kind, was co-chairedby the Lao Deputy Foreign Minister ThongphaneSavanphet, who is also Laos’ ASEANSOM leader, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and SOM leader Igor V.Morgulov.
The officials also discussed prioritised areas ofcooperation on the basis of the proposals of ASEAN-Russia Eminent PersonsGroup, while sketching out orientations for future collaborationin variousfields, including politics-security, economy, and culture-society.
They also agreed on the encouragement of closer cooperationand coordination among grassroots-level bodies of both sides, thus ensuring theeffective implementation of the ASEAN-RussiaComprehensive Plan of Action in 2016-2020 as well as lifting up theASEAN-Russia dialogue partnership to a new height in the future.-VNA
The Russia-ASEAN summit scheduled to take place in Russia’s city of Sochi for May 19-20 is expected to help strengthen the bilateral comprehensive relations and elevate ties to a new height.
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Scene at the 14th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials’ Meeting in Vientiane on March 29 (Photo: KPL) 
