The ASEAN secretariat has set up an initiative to boost trade between ASEAN countries and members of the Asia Pacific Economic (APEC) forum.

The initiative to facilitate trade between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and APEC countries was part of the cooperation programmes initiated by senior executives of both secretariat offices who met in the ASEAN Secretariat office in Jakarta on Nov. 12, the ASEAN secretariat said on its website.

“We agreed that the synergy between ASEAN and APEC will open a lot of opportunities for collaboration and cooperation,” ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan was quoted as saying.

Indonesia’s Antara news agency reported the same day that besides trade, the two secretariat offices of ASEAN and APEC have identified other sectors to work with, including support for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), disaster mitigation, standards and compliance, supply chain connectivity, health and project management./.