JAKARTA/BRUSSELS, 25 May 2021 – ASEAN and EU experts discussed the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, the scaling up of manufacturing capacity and the possibilities and challenges of vaccine roll-out, at the 2nd EU-ASEAN Expert Dialogue on COVID-19 Vaccines.
As two leading regional organisations, both sides share a common interest in pursuing a multilateral approach to an affordable, fair and equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.
In his remarks, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Kung Phoak noted that, “this cooperative undertaking re-affirms ASEAN’s commitment to Vaccine Security and Self – Reliance which underscores the need to strengthen cooperation and stakeholder efforts through knowledge sharing, capacity building and other developmental actions.’’
He further highlighted that the ASEAN Health Ministers adopted the Regional Strategic and Action Plan on ASEAN Vaccine Security and Self- Reliance for 2021-2025 on 14 May 2021, which will now further accelerate cooperation in vaccine-related initiatives in the region.
On his part, EU Ambassador to ASEAN Igor Driesmans noted that, “the 2nd EU-ASEAN Expert Dialogue on COVID-19 Vaccines presents an opportunity to engage a unique mix of medical specialists, policy practitioners, and industry representatives from BioNTech. This is the latest example of the strong partnership which EU and ASEAN have forged since March 2020 to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.”
EU and its Member States are the leading supporter of the COVAX Facility, pledging more than 2.47 billion EUR to it. The Facility aims to provide access to vaccines for every country, in addition to the dedicated EU assistance to Southeast Asia, which includes over the 800 million EUR “Team Europe” package, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 to ASEAN and a 20 million EUR support programme for WHO activities in the region.
EU has also exported 50% of its vaccine production – over 205 million doses – to 45 countries across the globe, including 3.8 million doses to Singapore and 2.5 million doses to Malaysia. ASEAN is set to receive over 32 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the GAVI COVAX facility by the end of 2021.
Dr Sierk Poetting, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of BioNTech, called the scale up of manufacturing capacity a key priority. He noted the increase of their own capacities from about 1.3 billion doses to up to 3 billion doses within six months and promised to further explore additional means of doing so, such as through licencing agreements with experienced partners.
ASEAN and EU agreed to hold an expert dialogue on vaccine security, which received full support from the Foreign Ministers during the 23rd ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting on 1 December 2020. The first EU-ASEAN Expert Dialogue on COVID-19 Vaccines took place a week later, covering strategies and practical aspects of vaccine authorisation, production, and distribution and attended by over 100 experts from Europe and Southeast Asia.
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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.Menu - WHAT WE DO
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