SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Asean and France have unveiled new initiatives aimed at strengthening their development partnership, targeting key areas such as creative industries, peatland management, landmine removal, and the Asean Power Grid.
The new initiatives were announced during the Fourth Meeting of the Asean-France Development Partnership Committee (DPC), held at the Asean Secretariat in Jakarta on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Asean Secretariat, both sides also agreed to expand cooperation on humanitarian aid, the promotion of French language and culture, and people-to-people exchanges.
"Asean welcomed France’s strong commitment to enhance the partnership including through the establishment of the ASEAN-France Fund, which aims to enhance tangible cooperation projects between Asean and France,” the secretariat noted.
The partnership will also broaden to encompass areas such as energy transition, food security, media and information, and vocational training, while both sides work to integrate the four priority areas outlined in the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
"France renewed its contribution of US$100,000 from the Asean-France Fund and announced an additional US$100,000 for the junior fellows to undertake a working visit to France to understand the country’s policy-making process within the European Union, in the multilateral context and bilaterally with Asean,” it added.
Officials reviewed progress in the Asean-France Practical Cooperation Areas (2022-2026), which focuses on transport, climate change, disaster management, capacity building, and air quality promotion.
The meeting was co-chaired by Asean deputy secretary-general for the political-security community Datuk Astanah Abdul Aziz and the ambassador of France to Asean Fabien Penone. The ambassador of Timor-Leste Natércia Cipriana Coelho da Silva also attended as an observer. - Bernama
