ASEAN: Russia Explores Cooperation Opportunities

Jakarta – Russia shows a great interest in cooperating with the ASEAN countries in the areas of transport, energy, information technologies, tourism and the Public–Private Partnership investment fund.

Dr. Lim Hong Hin, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), received Dr.  Alexey Likhachev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and his delegation at the ASEAN Secretariat yesterday.

DSG Lim advised the delegation on the latest developments pertaining to the establishment of AEC by 2015. He also touched upon the implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.

Dr. Likhachev expressed Russia’s commitments to continue working closely with ASEAN in realising AEC 2015, among others, through its on-going collaborations with relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies (e.g., energy, transport, tourism); pursuing areas of mutual interests (e.g., e-commerce, pharmaceuticals); and intensifying dialogue between the business communities. He went on to emphasise the importance of expediting the implementation of the ASEAN-Russia Trade and Investment Cooperation Work Program by prioritising deliverables for implementation each year.

Likhachev also reiterated the important role of the Russia-ASEAN Business Council in facilitating collaborations between the two business communities in pursuing trade and investment opportunities.

The delegation included representatives from the State Duma, Ministry of Economic Development, Russian conglomerates and the Russia-ASEAN Business Council.