NEW YORK, 22 September – The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held their Fifteenth Ministerial Meeting in New York on September 22, 2023 on the sidelines of the Seventy-Eighth Session of the United Nations General Assembly in the spirit of friendship and cooperation.
The Meeting was attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs/representatives from ASEAN and ECO Member States and was co-chaired by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Republic of Azerbaijan, on behalf of ASEAN and ECO, respectively. The Secretary-General of ECO and the Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Political Security Community also attended the Meeting. The Meeting reviewed the status of cooperation between ASEAN and ECO in the light of the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the ASEAN Secretariat and the ECO Secretariat, taking into account ongoing developments in both regions as well as the possibility of further enhancing ASEAN–ECO cooperation in the areas of mutual interest, including but not limited to, trade and investment, connectivity and sustainable energy transition, digitalization, agriculture, disaster risk management, drugs and narcotics control, tourism, as well as, people–to–people contacts.
The Meeting stressed upon the need to facilitate flow of trade, capital, energy and people, as well as B2B and B2G interaction between ASEAN and the ECO for harnessing benefits of larger inter-regional cooperation and synergy.
The Meeting also discussed the way forward for cooperation between ASEAN and ECO and adopted the Framework of Cooperation (FOC) between the two Organizations. The Meeting reaffirmed joint commitment to deepen cooperation between the two Organizations.
The Meeting encouraged the Secretariats to continue their coordination and consultations for enhancing the collaboration in the agreed areas of cooperation.
