15 Apr 2019
JAKARTA, 15 April 2019 – ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK) reaffirmed commitment to further strengthen their strategic partnership and enhance cooperation at the 6th ASEAN-ROK Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting held on 12 April at the ASEAN Secretariat.
Both sides acknowledged the significant progress made in the implementation of the Plan of Action 2016-2020 with a large number of activities and projects implemented to address more than 88% of the identified areas of cooperation. They took note of the progress in non-traditional security, trade, transportation, agriculture, environment, culture and arts, and people to people exchanges. Both sides also agreed to further enhance cooperation in areas such as education, disaster management, cyber security, connectivity, and humanitarian assistance.
The meeting noted the positive status of development cooperation between ASEAN and the ROK, particularly in support of the ASEAN community building efforts. Various projects have been implemented or are ongoing to support ASEAN in narrowing development gaps and integration. ASEAN welcomed the ROK’s plan to double its contribution to the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund (AKCF) by the end of 2019 to support more joint programmes and projects.
Both sides discussed the preparation for the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit to be held in November in Busan, ROK, on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Dialogue Relations. A series of meaningful activities will be conducted to celebrate the milestone. Both sides looked forward to the successful convening of the Summit and its substantive deliverables, including the adoption of a vision statement to advance relations in the coming years.
The 6th ASEAN-ROK JCC Meeting was co-chaired by the Permanent Representative of Brunei Darussalam to ASEAN Kasmalati Dato Kassim and Ambassador of the ROK to ASEAN Kim Young-chae. It was attended by the Permanent Representatives of ASEAN Member States and representatives of the ASEAN Secretariat.
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