A delegation from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) led by its General Secretary Ahmed Saleem was in Indonesia
for a working visit to the ASEAN Secretariat on February 27.
At the reception for the delegation, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN
for ASEAN Socio-cultural Council (ASCC) Alicia dela Rosa Bala affirmed
that the bloc is striving to intensify relations with external partners
including the SAARC and South Asian countries, highlighting the
time-honoured relationship between the two regions, as well as the
participation of SAARC member states in ASEAN-driven regional
processes such as the ASEAN Regional Forum.
For his
part, Saleem expressed his wish to enhance the cooperation between the
two secretariats as well as between member states of the two regions in
the spirit of the South-South cooperation that would be mutually
beneficial.
The two secretariats discussed the
development in the regions and reviewed the ASEAN-SAARC Secretariats’
Partnership Work Plan (2008-2009) and the future practical cooperative
activities. The discussions focused on issues such as trade and
investment, energy, health, agriculture, tourism, disaster management,
narcotics control, trafficking in persons and poverty reduction.-VNA