ASEAN Secretary- General Le Luong Minh has affirmed that Russia is an important partner to the bloc.
Russia plays an important role in maintaining peace, security,
stability and development in the region, the ASEAN official said when
receiving new Russian Ambassador to ASEAN Mikhail Galuzin in Jakarta
on March 20. The Russian diplomat presented to Minh his Letter of
Credence.
Russia’s participation in ASEAN-hosted regional
forums has heightened the regional grouping’s importance, Minh added,
expressing his hope that the planned third ASEAN-Russia Summit in
October this year would give impetus to further enhance the long
standing ASEAN-Russia cooperation.
Meanwhile, Galuzin said
Russia attached great importance to the multifaceted cooperation with
ASEAN and it regarded ASEAN as the locomotive for economic integration
in the region and beyond.
He reiterated Russia’s support for ASEAN Centrality in the regional architecture.
Galuzin
also said Russia would explore concrete cooperation with ASEAN in the
fields of energy, infrastructure development, agriculture, food
security, science and technology, combating transnational crime,
counter-terrorism, and disaster management, among others.-VNA