This was stated by Sergei Glazyev, Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission, during consultations as part of the 55th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting held on August 20-23 in Semarang (Indonesia).
The EEC and the ASEAN Secretariat discussed the results of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding, noting the desire to deepen dialogue and mutual interest in studying best integration practices.
“In March, we held a seminar on digital transformation in the EAEU and ASEAN, which attracted the attention of official, business and expert circles in our regions," Sergei Glazyev stressed. "We intend to start preparing the second face-to-face stage of such a seminar, which could take place in 2024”.
The idea of the face-to-face seminar was supported by Kao Kim Hourn, ASEAN Secretary General, who also expressed appreciation of the overall level of interaction between the EAEU and the ASEAN.
Sergei Glazyev noted the joint contribution of the EEC and the ASEAN to implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the efforts of the two associations to develop contacts through business circles in order to increase trade.
The EEC Minister drew attention to the upward trend in the trade turnover between the EAEU and the ASEAN (it has grown 1.6 times since 2015), but stressed that the potential of mutual trade was far from being fully realized.
“The upward trend in interaction between the EEC and the ASEAN is largely supported by the high level of the Commission's dialogue with the governments of the Association States in the format of memoranda and trade agreements," the EEC Minister summed up.
Working contacts between the EEC representatives and the ASEAN countries' delegations took place on the sidelines of the event as well. In particular, Andrei Diyansky, Head of the Secretariat of the EEC Minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics, and Dmitry Yezhov, Head of the International Interaction Section of the EEC Integration Development Department, held meetings with Malaythong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Jerry Sambuaga, Deputy Minister of Commerce of the Republic of Indonesia, Rath Saravuth, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Commerce and Trade of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and a delegation from the Republic of the Philippines. The parties discussed relevant matters of interaction within bilateral memoranda, as well as the issues of holding public events on the Eurasian economic integration for official and business circles of these countries. Practical steps to deepen interaction between the EAEU and the ASEAN were the focus of attention during the meeting of the EEC representatives with Satwinder Singh, Deputy Secretary General of the ASEAN.
For reference
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an economic association founded in 1967. The Association members include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Papua New Guinea and East Timor have an observer status. This is one of the largest regional integration associations with an aggregate GDP of 2.6 trn US dollars, and a population of 622 mln people.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the EEC and the ASEAN was signed on November 14, 2018 in Singapore. The document underpins the formation of a dialogue platform for discussing a wide range of issues of interaction between integration blocks on the Eurasian continent scale.
A Cooperation Program for 2020-2025 was adopted to implement the Memorandum. It covers such spheres as customs legislation and law enforcement practice, trade policy, business activities, technical and antitrust regulation, SPS measures, energy, functioning of internal markets, etc.
