ASEAN and Australia have reaffirmed their shared commitment to boost
their comprehensive partnership during the fourth meeting of the
ASEAN-Australia Joint Cooperation Committee (AAJCC) concluded in
Jakarta recently.
Participants discussed the
preparations for the ASEAN-Australia Commemorative Summit scheduled for
November 12 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar , to mark the 40 th anniversary
of ASEAN-Australian dialogues.
They also talked
about their joint goals for 2015-2019, with a focus on a Plan of Action
for a number of areas, such as politics, economics, trade, tourism and
education.
Australian Ambassador to ASEAN, Simon
Merrifield, vowed to support the ASEAN Community building efforts and
the bloc’s post-2015 vision.
Australia is
ASEAN’s longest-standing dialogue partner. ASEAN, in turn, is
Australia ’s second largest trade partner and sixth largest exporter.
Bilateral trade totalled 92.3 billion USD in 2013, double that of the previous decade.-VNA