ASEAN-European Economic Community


The Third Meeting of the Joint Cooperation committee (JCC) was held in Pattaya, Thailand on 2-4 November 1982 to discuss the progress of projects and activities under the ASEAN - EEC Cooperation Agreement.

On Commercial Cooperation, issues on commodities and the GATT Ministerial Meeting which was held in Geneva in November 1982 were discussed. Against the backdrop of a depressed world economic situation, ASEAN and the EEC called for the continued dialogue between producers and consumers of commodities, the effective operation of International Commodity Agreements, and the taking of measures to stabilize the international market for commodities. The hope that the Global Negotiations would be launched as soon as possible was expressed. The need for the early implementation of the Common Fund was also reiterated.

The EEC also noted the significant growth in the utilization of GSP benefits by ASEAN. ASEAN, however, requested for further improvements in the Community's GSP. To deal with specific problems and matters of concern arising from trade relations between the two regions, the JCC agreed that more use should be made of the Working Group on Trade Issues for this purpose.

On Economic Cooperation, the Industrial Conference on Engineering Industries was held in Kuala Lumpur, 28 February - 2 March 1983. Noting the important role of industrial cooperation in the development of EC - ASEAN relations, it was felt that there might be a need to follow-up the Kuala Lumpur Conference in the form of a programme of specific and practical investment seminars and missions focusing on medium and small scale industries. As for cooperation in the private sector, an ASEAN - EEC Business Council has been created by the ASEAN and European Chambers of Commerce.

In the financial area, the first joint and formal meeting of the ASEAN Finance Cooperation (AFC) and INTERACT, was held on 16-17 September 1982 in Bangkok. The JCC expressed the hope that some of the projects discussed in this meeting could soon become the basis for concrete cooperation between the two sides.

In the field of science and technology, measures to implement the programme of cooperation in the specific area of energy, environment and human resource development between the two regions have been initiated. The EEC has established a new budget line of 2.8 million ECU for the programme.

New areas of cooperation were established between ASEAN and the Community. The Agreement on Insurance had already been reached and a provisional programme of technical exchanges and training for 1983 - 1984 has been drawn up. In the area of Social Development, Culture and Information, the Community informed ASEAN that it would seek to arrange a visit of ASEAN magazine journalists to Europe with the aim of establishing contacts with relevant parties in Europe. The Community also noted that there were a number of projects which would be considered for implementation as soon as technical details could be finalised and resources made available.

The Fourth ASEAN - EC Ministerial Meeting was held in Bangkok on 24-25 March 1983, during which there was a convergence of views on important international issues. The Meeting deplored the continuing presence of Vietnamese forces in Kampuchea and Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

For more information, please refer to project details