Illustrative image (Source: Internet)Hanoi (VNA) – TheASEAN-Korea Joint Cooperation Committee (AKJCC) convened its sixth meeting inJakarta, Indonesia, on April 12 to review bilateral cooperation over the recentpast and seek measures to promote their partnership in the future.
At the meeting, the two sidesrecognised the positive outcomes of the collaboration between the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in politics-security,economy, trade, investment, tourism, education, culture and people-to-peopleexchange.
In economy, the RoK has been thefifth biggest trade partner and investor of the ASEAN, with two-way tradereaching 152.5 billion USD in 2017, over 160 billion USD in 2018 and the flowof foreign direct investment (FDI) from the RoK into the ASEAN hitting 5.3billion USD in 2018.
Through cooperation mechanismssuch as the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) and the joint Action Plan,the two sides have strived to raise two-way trade to 200 billion USD in 2020.
The RoK affirmed that itconsiders the ASEAN as the core of the “New Southern Policy” initiated byPresident Moon Jae-in, while underscoring the significance of partnership withthe ASEAN as well as the country’s support for the bloc’s efforts to promoteits central role in the regional cooperation and connectivity process.
The RoK supported the ASEAN inbuilding a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea, committing to activelyengaging in and contributing to important ASEAN-led cooperation mechanisms andforums such as the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF),ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM ), and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF).
TheRoK also lauded the ASEAN’s role in and support for the peace and denuclearizationprocess on the Korean Peninsula, especially through the summits between the USand the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Singapore in 2018 and inVietnam in February 2019.
Meanwhile, the ASEAN underscoredthe grouping’s support for efforts for inter-Korean dialogue anddenuclearization on the Korean Peninsula through peaceful measures.
Participants at the meetingagreed that the ASEAN-Korea Centre and the ASEAN Cultural House have contributedto promoting investment, trade, cultural and tourism partnerships between ASEANcountries and the RoK.
They highlighted the effectivesupport of the RoK to bilateral cooperation projects and programmes through theASEAN Korea Economic Cooperation Fund, while lauding the RoK’s decision todouble its contributions to the fund in 2019 to 14 million USD.
The two sides agreed on the needto continue realizing the outcomes of the 20th ASEAN-RoK Summit inline with the ASEAN Vision 2025, while focusing on completing action lines inthe joint Plan of Action for the 2016-2020 period, especially those inprioritized areas such as trade-investment, science-technology, ICT, cybersecurity, digital economy, smart city, human resource management, small, mediumand micro enterprises support.
They concurred to enhancepartnerships in various fields such as culture, education, tourism, energy,environment, climate change, and strengthen the engagement of the RoK in theASEAN Smart City Network, as well as support to the ASEAN Integration Work Planin the third phase and other sub-regional economic cooperation frameworks suchas the Mekong-RoK Action Plan for 2017-2020.
On the occasion, ASEAN membercountries and the RoK also discussed plan for activities marking the 30th founding anniversary of the ASEAN-RoK dialogue relations in 2019.-VNA
VNA
