(VOVworld) – The ASEAN and EU agreed to develop their ties toward a strategic partnership at their 20^th Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) held in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was co-hosted by Vietnam and the EU for the first time.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) and ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh at the 20th AEMM.

To realize the vision, both sides will increase political-security dialogues and consultations at international forums, in order to promote their voice, role, and contributions to the world’s peace, stability and development.
On the economic front, the EU and ASEAN aim to boost two-way trade by strengthening aviation, navigation and road connectivity, resuming Free Trade Agreement negotiations after 2015, supporting small-and-medium sized businesses, and holding economic consultations between their economic ministers. The EU promised to help ASEAN improve regional connectivity and increase its development assistance for ASEAN to 170 million EUR for 2014-2020, doubling that of the 2007-2013 period.  
Regarding the East Sea issue, Pham Quang Vinh, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister, said:
“The ministers voiced their grave concern over the East Sea situation, calling for concerned parties to respect international law, the Declaration on the Conduct of parties in the East Sea (DOC), and promptly establishing a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). They insisted that all involved parties need to practice restraint, avoid any threat to use force, and settle conflicts by peaceful means in line with international law. This reflects ASEAN and EU’s interests and stance regarding peace and security in the East Sea”.
The ASEAN and EU ministers issued a joint statement on the crash of the Malaysian airliner MH17.
As a co-ordinator for ASEAN-EU ties, the Vietnamese delegation proposed priorities to bring the bilateral ties to a new height in the future. Michael Mann, a spokesperson for the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, said:
“Vietnam has played a positive role as a co-president. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh co-chaired the meeting with Vice-President of the European Commission Catherine Ashton. ASEAN-EU cooperation plays an important role as both sides share common interests and can learn from each other experiences in order to improve bilateral ties. The two sides agreed to realise a plan of action to boost ASEAN-EU ties toward a strategic partnership”.
The meeting highlighted Vietnam’s role as a coordinator for the ASEAN-EU relations since 2012.