ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development
(VOVWORLD) - The "ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development” themed “Moving towards sustainable development goals” took place in Bangkok, on Friday, under the chair of Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica. Secretary-General of ASEAN Le Luong Minh attended the event.
The dialogue stemmed from the 21st ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting last October to develop a firm platform for implementing the UN Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung welcomed Thailand’s initiative in organizing the dialogue and underscored the event’s importance in strengthening cooperation within the ASEAN-EU framework in sustainable development.
Mr. Dung proposed 4 potential areas to be promoted. They include optimizing the available mechanisms, particularly diplomatic missions in ASEAN to boost consultation and cooperation between ASEAN and EU, increasing bilateral, regional, and inter-region links in economics, trade, and investment with a focus on realizing the ASEAN-EU free trade agreement in the future, outlining policies to implement UN sustainable development goals towards the people, and considering education, science and technology as a driver of growth and innovation.