Asean is ramping up talks with the United Kingdom and Russia, with the aim of pushing forward economic cooperation.
Auramon Supthaweethum, director-general of the Trade Negotiations Department, said Duangarthit Nidhi-u-tai, deputy director-general of the department, had been assigned to participate in the 4th Asean-UK senior economic officials meeting (SEOM); the 15th Asean-Russia senior economic officials meeting; and the 31st Asean-Europe trade commissioner's meeting held during July 14-16 in Surabaya, Indonesia.
The purpose was to discuss and monitor the progress of economic, trade and investment cooperation plans, as well as prepare for the Asean-UK, Asean-Russia and Asean-Europe economic ministers' meetings in August.
Mr Duangarthit said during the Asean-UK SEOM, the two parties reviewed the progress of cooperation plans between 2022-23, focusing on enhancing economic relations, trade and investment through 11 areas of cooperation, such as Asean-UK supply chain connectivity, market opening, digital innovation and the development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Additionally, they discussed projects aimed at promoting public-private partnerships, financial services and sustainable growth.
The outcomes of these discussions will be presented to the Asean-UK economic ministers for consideration in August.
Regarding the Asean-Russia SEOM, the participants discussed plans for trade and investment cooperation between Asean and Russia and the economic cooperation plan between Asean and the Eurasian Economic Commission.
Important activities included preparing reports on transforming MSMEs into digital enterprises and holding a roundtable on e-commerce cooperation this month. High-level policy dialogues, meetings of senior officials and seminars on digital transformation were also held in the past year.
Progress on the Asean-Russia cooperation plan will be reported at the Asean-Russia economic ministers' meeting this month.
As for the Asean-Europe trade commissioner's meeting, according to Mrs Auramon, discussions revolved around economic, trade and investment cooperation plans, and actions under the Asean-EU trade and investment cooperation work programme in three branches: the digital economy, environmentally-friendly technologies, and sustainable and efficient supply chains.
The joint working group on Asean-EU trade and investment has been an important platform for exchanging information, regulations and best practices between the two regions.
Progress on the Asean-EU cooperation plan for 2022-23, as well as the preparation of the 2024-25 plan, will be presented for approval at the Asean-EU economic ministers' meeting this month.
Moreover, the meeting also discussed EU-supported projects in Asean, such as sustainable links between the EU and Asean, which aim to promote infrastructure investment in Asean, including energy, transportation, trade, an environmentally-friendly and efficient supply chain, digital education at the tertiary and community levels, competition and intellectual property rights, and the EU-Asean green startup project to enhance cooperation and enforce international agreements on climate, the environment and biodiversity.