The two regional organizations expressed their hope regarding EU`s accession to TAC at the 19th ASEAN-EU Joint Co-operation Committee (JCC) Meeting which was held in Bali last weekend, according to an ASEAN Secretariat press release on Monday.
At the meeting, the JCC reviewed and expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved to date in the implementation of the Plan of Action to Implement the Nuremberg Declaration on an ASEAN-EU Enhanced Partnership (2007-2012), the Phnom Penh Agenda (2009-2010), and the Indicative List of Activities (2011-2012).
The EU welcomed the progress achieved in ASEAN community building and reaffirmed its support for ASEAN centrality in the evolving regional architecture.
The JCC welcomed the progress of ongoing ASEAN-EU cooperation programmes in the areas of statistics, intellectual property rights, FTA negotiating capacity, air transport, migration and border management, and a regional dialogue instrument facility, and looked forward to the early implementation of the new programme that supports ASEAN economic integration which is the ASEAN Regional Integration Support from the EU (ARISE).
The EU will explore further support for the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.
The JCC welcomed also the progress made in programming new areas under the ASEAN-EU Multi-Annual Indicative Programme (MIP) 2011-2013 of which the EU has allocated an indicative budget of ? 30 million.
ASEAN and EU share close trade and investment relations. The EU is ASEAN`s second largest trading partner and the biggest source of foreign investment with a share of almost 20% in 2010.
The ASEAN-EU JCC Meeting was co-chaired by Pengiran Hajah Basmillah Pengiran Haji Abbas, the permanent representative of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN, and Seamus Gillespie, the acting director of Asia, European External Action Service (EEAS).
The Meeting was attended by the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and officials from the EU and the ASEAN Secretariat.
The JCC also discussed preparations for the 19th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting. The next ASEAN-EU JCC Meeting will be held in late 2012.
(F001/A014)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
