The 19^th Meeting of the ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (ARJCC) took place via videoconference on 30^th March 2021 and was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Ade Padmo Sarwono, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to ASEAN, and H.E. Mr. Alexander Ivanov, Ambassador of Russia to ASEAN. The Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, the DSG of ASEAN Political Security Community of ASEC and a number of Russian line agencies’ representatives took part in the meeting.

The participants emphasized that the event took place in the year of a double Anniversary – 30 years of the ASEAN-Russia relations and 25 years of the ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Meeting shared information on relevant developments in their respective countries, focused on possible joint efforts to overcome consequences of the pandemic and to ensure steady economic recovery. Russia informed the Meeting about the development and registration in Russia of three relevant vaccines and underlined its readiness to supply them to the ASEAN Member States as well as to start their joint production. The ASEAN delegates welcomed such intention and stressed the necessity to ensure access to reliable and affordable vaccines for the regional countries.

The Meeting emphasized the significant progress in the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Plan of Action to Promote the ASEAN-Russia Cooperation for 2016-2020 (CPA) and agreed to finalize its successor document in the nearest future.

The Meeting discussed specific ways to further promote the ASEAN-Russia Strategic Partnership, including by developing cooperation on political and security issues, in disaster management, technology and innovation, ICT security, combating infectious diseases, tourism and in many other areas. The Russian delegation presented several new initiatives as well as joint project activities in the areas of finance, education, B2B contacts, and youth exchange. The ASEAN delegates paid special attention to the Russian involvement in the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), the ASEAN Smart Cities Network as well as TVET programs for ASEAN professionals.

The Russian Delegation informed about the preparation for the ASEAN-Russia Year of Science, Technology and Industrial Cooperation 2022-2023 to be organized both in ASEAN Member States and in Russia.

The Meeting highly appreciated the activities of the ASEAN Center in MGIMO University aimed at deepening socio-cultural, scientific and people-to-people contacts between ASEAN Member States and Russia.

The ARJCC emphasized with satisfaction that despite the pandemic the ASEAN- Russia Strategic Partnership continues to grow and the ARJCC agreed to undertake a number of specific steps to promote the ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Relations further.