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| ASEAN - EU pledge to promote trade and investment relations. (Source: ASEAN.org) |
On August 20, at the 19th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-European Union (EU) Consultations held in Semarang, Indonesia, the two sides pledged to take advantage of positive momentum to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment relations.
The conference noted that both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU are on track to fully recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to ASEAN statistics, the total value of two-way trade in goods between ASEAN and the EU reached US$295.2 billion in 2022, up 9.6% compared to 2021, while foreign direct investment (FDI) from the EU also reached US$24 billion, making the EU the third largest source of FDI for ASEAN.
The meeting stressed that the ASEAN-EU partnership goes beyond trade and investment. It recalled the EU’s contributions to the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) in the areas of food safety, circular economy, biodiversity conservation, social protection against natural disasters, green cities and gender equality, which have helped ASEAN quickly respond to and emerge from the pandemic.
The meeting welcomed the progress of the implementation of the ASEAN-EU Trade and Investment Work Programme (TIWP) 2022-2023; encouraged continued cooperation within the framework of TIWP and adopted the ASEAN-EU TIWP 2024-2025 to guide bilateral economic cooperation in the coming time.
The Conference highly appreciated the EU-funded ARISE+ (trade facilitation) and E-READI (EU-ASEAN policy dialogue) programmes, and acknowledged the important contributions of these two programmes to promoting ASEAN economic integration efforts as well as promoting the economic partnership between ASEAN and the EU.
In addition, the summit looked forward to establishing an even closer partnership through the newly launched €30 million (US$32.67 million) EU-ASEAN Green Initiative and the €60 million (US$65.35 million) EU-ASEAN Sustainable Connectivity Package, which will contribute to strengthening the EU-ASEAN strategic partnership and implementing the EU’s Global Gateway strategy in Southeast Asia.
The meeting welcomed the report of the ASEAN-EU Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment (JWG) Meeting and recommendations to promote ASEAN-EU cooperation on digital economy, green technology and green services, as well as supply chain recovery.
Finally, the meeting noted the shared fundamental principles between the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo- Pacific (AOIP) and the EU Indo-Pacific Cooperation Strategy to promote an open, inclusive, transparent and rules-based regional architecture with ASEAN at its centre. The meeting agreed to explore cooperation in the priority areas of the AOIP and the EU Indo-Pacific Cooperation Strategy.
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