Indonesia`s Permanent Representative to ASEAN Ambassador Ngurah Swajaya in the discussion presented information on priorities of Indonesia as the ASEAN Chair 2011, Punjul Setya Nugraha, the embassy`s third secretary, told ANTARA`s London-based correspondent Thursday.
The European Union (EU) is ASEAN`s second largest trade partner after China, while for the European Union, ASEAN is the fifth largest trade partner, according to Ambassador Ngurah.
ASEAN, which also has a strategic role for the European Union, has learned a lot from the European Union about the integration process toward a single community, he said.
The ambassador called for intensified interactions between ASEAN and the European Union.
"The European Union should see ASEAN as more than a trade partner, and beyond its economic aspect," Ngurah, who is concurrently chairman of the ASEAN Permanent Representative Committee, said.
During his two-day working visit in Brussels, Ambassador Ngurah Swajaya also had dialogs with several ambassadors of the EU member countries and held a bilateral meeting with a European Commission official.
Indonesian Ambassador to Belgium Arif Havas Oegroseno said the visit of Ambassador Ngurah to Brussels would help bring ASEAN closer to the European Union.
And it is also in accordance with the Indonesian government`s policy on taking ASEAN`s profile higher in various regions, including Europe, according to Ambassador Oegroseno.
(Uu.F001/HAJM)
(T.SYS/B/F001/F001) 28-04-2011 13:25:16
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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