Illustrative image (Source: ScandAsia.com) Jakarta (VNA) – Norwegian Minster of Foreign Affairs Horten Hoglund stressed that his country and ASEAN will further promote partnership in the coming time to bring maximum benefits to both.
Speaking at the first meeting of the ASEAN-Norway Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AN-JSCC) recently took place in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, the minister affirmed his country’s commitment to deepening links with the ten-member-state bloc.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to expand their partnership in prioritised fields, and agreed that the ASEAN-Norway partnership will be included in the Statement on ASEAN-Norway Partnership ratified in August 2014 at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and the ASEAN Community Vision 2015.
On the sidelines of the event, ASEAN Deputy Secretary General V. P. Hirubalan had a meeting with Horten Hoglund, during which they compared notes of common concern.
The AN-JSCC is a cooperation mechanism to examine and approve projects and programmes within ASEAN-Norway partnership, which was established at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in August 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with a total population of around 620 million.
In 2014, the ASEAN member countries – taken together – were Norway’s fourth largest trading partner and home to the highest concentration of Norwegian companies operating abroad.-VNA
