(VOVworld) - Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has proposed European Union members beef up cooperation with ASEAN in coping with challenges of non-traditional security, climate change, Mekong sub-region water source security, energy and maritime security.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh at the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting. Photo: Internet

Minh made the proposals at the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting, which concluded in the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei yesterday. Minh spoke highly of the importance and active results of cooperation between ASEAN and the EU over the past 35 years. Vietnam is actively preparing for assuming the role of coordinator for ASEAN-EU dialogue relations in July 2012, the Foreign Minister said, affirming that Vietnam will exert its utmost to closely cooperate with other countries in elevating ASEAN-EU cooperative relations to a new height.