Overview
Russia became ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 1996. Since then, the ASEAN-Russia trade and investment relationship continued to flourish. The total trade between ASEAN and Russia reached 18.1 billion in 2024, while Russia’s foreign direct investment flows into ASEAN registered at a value of USD 65 million in the same year.
Efforts to enhance economic cooperation activities was intensified in 2002 when the 3rd ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (ARJCC) Meeting endorsed the establishment of the ASEAN-Russia Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (ARWGTEC). The Working Group was tasked to handle economic cooperation activities between ASEAN and Russia. Its first meeting was held in the same year with Senior Economic Officials from ASEAN (Director General level) and representatives from Russia comprising several Ministries, i.e. Economic Development and Trade, Foreign Affairs, Transport, Atomic Energy, Education, Finance, Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business sector representatives.
The work of the Working Group led to the adoption of the following documents: (i) Inter-governmental Agreement between ASEAN and Russia on Economic and Development Cooperation; and (ii) Comprehensive Program of Action to Promote Cooperation between ASEAN and the Russian Federation (2005-2015) at the inaugural ASEAN-Russia Summit in Malaysia in December 2005.
In July 2006, ASEAN and Russia convened the inaugural Senior Economic Official Meeting (SEOM-Russia Consultations) and agreed to meet as and when the need arises. The 2nd SEOM-Russia Consultations was held in Brunei Darussalam in July 2010. At this Meeting, ASEAN and Russia agreed to place the purview of the ARWGTEC under SEOM-Russia Consultations. Furthermore, ASEAN and Russia also agreed to inaugurate the ASEAN and Russia Economic Ministerial Meeting (AEM-Russia Consultations) in August 2010. One of the major outcomes of the 1st AEM-Russia Consultations was the establishment of the ASEAN-Russia Expert Group mandated to develop a Roadmap for ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation.
The Roadmap was endorsed by ASEAN and Russia Economic Ministers in November 2012. The Roadmap comprises five (5) key areas, namely High-level policy dialogue; Consultations at the Senior Economic Officials level; Sectoral dialogues between ASEAN and Russian officials; Trade and investment facilitation; and Enhancing dialogue with business. A Work Programme to implement the Roadmap was also developed and subsequently endorsed by ASEAN and Russia Economic Ministers at the 2nd AEM-Russia Consultations held on 21 August 2013 in Brunei Darussalam. Aiming to expand the areas of economic cooperation, the Roadmap was modified in 2015 (Post-2015 Roadmap) and 2017 (Post-2017 Roadmap). A Work Programme to implement the activities was set out in the Post-2017 Roadmap (Work Programme) and was endorsed at the 6th AEM-Russia Consultations in 2017.
Recognising the change of the global economy due to COVID-19, the 10th AEM-Russia Consultation held on 14 September 2021 endorsed the revised ASEAN-Russia Trade and Investment Cooperation Roadmap and ASEAN-Russia Trade and Investment Work Programme 2021-2025 that envision cooperation development between ASEAN and Russia in three key dimensions: trade and investment, digital transformation and sustainable development. The implementation of the Work Programme has contributed to ASEAN-Russia economic cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, digital economy, MSMEs, agriculture, energy and climate change.
