Delegates at the meeting (Photo: asean.org)
Jakarta (VNA) – The 9th meeting of the ASEAN-Australia Joint Cooperation Committee took place inJakarta, Indonesia, on May 24.
The meeting reviewed the bilateral cooperationover the past year and discussed cooperation orientations in the coming time.
At the meeting, the two sides spoke highly ofthe cooperation results in all three pillars ofpolitical-security, economy and socio-culture.
In the 2017-2018 period, two-way tradebetween the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Australia hit105 billion USD. Australia is currently the 7th biggest tradepartner and 6th biggest foreign investor of ASEAN.
Australia has provided funds for a number ofprogrammes, including the Australia-Asia Programmeto CombatTrafficking in Persons (55 million USD), and the ShapingInclusive Finance Transformations Programme (SHIFT) to support low incomepeople and firms in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to the tune of 6million USD, among others.
In educational cooperation,Australia has presented 1,175 awards to ASEAN citizens studying in the Oceania country. It is about tofacilitate 18,500 Australian students to travel to ASEAN nations to enhance theirunderstanding about the region.
Both sides noted that to date, up to 109 outof total 113 action lines in the 2015-2019 Plan of Action (PoA) to Implement the ASEAN-Australia StrategicPartnership have been carried out, hitting 96 percent.
The two sides agreed to promptly implement theremaining lines in 2019, and join hands to complete the 2020-2024 PoA in a strategicand practical manner.
Australia reiterated its continued support forthe ASEAN Community building efforts and realisation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, as well as attachedimportance to ASEAN’s central role in maintaining regional peace and stability.
On the occasion of the 45th foundinganniversary of ASEAN-Australia relations, Australia announced an aid worth 2million USD for security cooperation and the launch of a programme titled“Australia Now-ASEAN 2019” to foster understanding and awareness of therelations between Australia and ASEAN countries.
ASEAN also highly evaluated theASEAN-Australia strategic partnership, especially Australia’s assistance likethe ASEAN–Australia Development Cooperation Programme Phase II, the ASEANAustralia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and the New Colombo Plan.
Both sides pledged to deepen theASEAN-Australia strategic partnership and noted the importance of enhancingcooperation in areas of mutual interest, such as maritime security, cybersecurity, digital trade standards, connectivity, smart city, development gapreduction, education, people-to-people exchanges, health, and disastermanagement.-VNA
