EU To Increase Aid To Almost US$4.04 Billion To Southeast Asia

By Minggu Simon Lhasa BANGKOK, July 24 (Bernama) -- The European Union (EU) has agreed to increase its overall aid to Southeast Asia, including through bilateral assistance, from US$2.96 billion (2.2 billion euro) (2007-2013) to nearly US$4.04 billion (3 billion euro) (2014-2020). This was concluded at the 20th EU-Asean Ministerial Meeting themed "Towards Strategic Partnership for Peace, Stability and Prosperity" in Brussels Wednesday. The meeting describes the increase in aid as a testimony of the EU commitment to enhance its support for Asean's institution building and the 2015 community-building goals up to 170 billion euro (2014-2020), according to a Co-Chairs' statement issued after the meeting. Asean and EU foreign ministers, who attended the meeting, also supported the implementation of the Master Plan on Asean Connectivity (MPAC), building on the visit by the Asean Coordinating Committee on Connectivity (ACCC) to Belgium and Luxembourg in February 2014. The ministers noted the progress of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and discussions between individual Asean member states and the EU. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen cooperation between the two regions, including the possibility of resuming negotiations on the Asean-EU Free Trade Agreement, upon the culmination of the Asean Economic Community by the end of 2015. In this context, they looked forward to the convening of the 13th Consultations between Asean economic ministers and the EU trade commissioner expected to be held in August 2014 in Myanmar. The meeting was co-chaired by European Commission vice-president Catherine Ashton, and Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Bin Mink who is also country coordinator of Asean-EU Dialogue Relations. The ministers also agreed to enhance maritime security and safety cooperation through information sharing and capacity building, building on the High-level Dialogue on Maritime Cooperation which was held in November 2013 in Jakarta. (US$1 = 0.74 euro) --BERNAMA