13 Mar 2020
The 18th Meeting of the ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (ARJCC) took place at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on 13 March and was co-chaired by Ambassador Ade Padmo Sarwono, Permanent Representative of Indonesia to ASEAN, and Ambassador of Russia to ASEAN Alexander Ivanov.
The ARJCC focused on accomplishing of the Comprehensive Plan of Action to Develop the ASEAN-Russia Cooperation for 2016-2020 (CPA) and underlined the number of activities successfully implemented within the relevant ASEAN Community Pillars. The Meeting discussed specific ways to further promote strategic partnership such as developing cooperation on political and security issues, disaster management, education, youth exchanges, science and technology and other areas. A number of new project proposals in agriculture were adopted. Russia informed participants on its plans to launch activities promoting the Initiative for ASEAN Integration.
The Meeting noted the progress achieved in such fields as people-to-people contacts, fighting infectious diseases, and others. The ARJCC welcomed the holding of the 1st ASEAN-Russia Education Forum last October in Moscow and supported the initiative to organize the next ASEAN-Russia Youth Summit in Russia.
Both sides looked forward to signing the Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and the Russian Federation on Cooperation in the Field of Disaster Management this year.
Special attention was paid to new areas of cooperation such as ICT Security, Finance, Smart Cities, and Informal Consultations on Security issues. Both sides discussed specific actions to promote such cooperation and will reflect them in the new CPA for 2021-2025 to replace the current document.
Participants emphasized growing ties between the ASEAN and Russian business communities including those in the ASEAN – Eurasian Economic Union Format and called on enhancing such cooperation through the further holding of relevant business events.
The Meeting appreciated activities of the ASEAN Center in MGIMO University aimed at deepening socio-cultural, scientific and people-to-people interaction between ASEAN Member States and Russia.
The ARJCC underscored the importance of specific steps to move the ASEAN-Russia strategic partnership forward and noted with satisfaction the progress in ASEAN-Russia relations
