The ASEAN ended its 13th Summit and related meetings Thursday by signing a declaration with EU to further their cooperation.
While celebrating their relations of 30 years, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) decided to enhance their economic relations by expeditiously negotiating and concluding the ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement based on a region-to-region approach mindful of the different levels of development and capacity of individual ASEAN countries, the Joint Declaration of the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit says.
This year also marks the 40th anniversary of ASEAN's establishment and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the EU (formerly known as European Community).
Both parties were deeply satisfied with the rapid growth and expansion of their relations in a wide range of areas including political and security, economic and trade, social and cultural and development cooperation, committed to further enhance ASEAN-EU dialogue and cooperation to the highest level, the Declaration says.
It reaffirms "support for an early, ambitious conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda as the priority for both ASEAN and the EU."
The EU expressed support for the realization of the ASEAN Community by 2015 and acknowledged ASEAN's centrality and leading role in all ASEAN-related regional architecture, in particular the ASEAN Regional forum (ARF) as the main forum for regional dialogue and political and security cooperation in the Asia Pacific, according to the Declaration.
Both sides "fully support the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari in his efforts to defuse the situation in Myanmar, and welcome the Government of Myanmar's commitment to work with the United Nations."
Source: Xinhua
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