Co-Chairs’ Press Release ASEAN-EU Senior Officials’ Meeting

07-Jul-2017

Source:  ASEAN Secretariat News

Co-Chairs’ Press Release ASEAN-EU Senior Officials’ Meeting

The ASEAN-EU Senior Officials’ Meeting was held in Bangkok, the Kingdom of Thailand, on 5-6 July 2017. The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Ms. Busaya Mathelin, Permanent Secretary and ASEAN SOM Leader of Thailand and H.E. Mr. Gunnar Wiegand, Managing Director for Asia and Pacific, European External Action Service and EU SOM Leader. The Meeting took place in an important year for ASEAN and the EU as 2017 marks the 40th Anniversary of ASEAN-EU Dialogue Relations, the 50th Anniversary of ASEAN and the 60th Anniversary of the Treaties of Rome.

The Meeting exchanged views on recent developments in ASEAN and the EU which remain two of the world’s leading regional organisations. With a rapidly changing political landscape and growing challenges in both regions and in the world, the Meeting underscored their commitment to regional integration and cooperation as a means to promote regional peace, security, stability and prosperity and to promote multilateralism and a rules-based international order. The EU reaffirmed its support for ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture and ASEAN welcomes the interest of the EU in furthering engagement with the region through all ASEAN-led processes. The Meeting also discussed ways to make ASEAN and the EU even more relevant to the peoples of the two regions and to be able to better address shared global challenges, from human trafficking and irregular migration to maritime security and safety and transnational crime, from terrorism and violent extremism to poverty, sustainable development and climate change.

Download the full statement here.