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ASEAN, SAARC Secretariats strengthen cooperation

A delegation from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) led by its General Secretary Ahmed Saleem was in Indonesia for a working visit to the ASEAN Secretariat on February 27.
A delegation from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) led by its General Secretary Ahmed Saleem was in Indonesiafor a working visit to the ASEAN Secretariat on February 27.

At the reception for the delegation, Deputy Secretary General of ASEANfor ASEAN Socio-cultural Council (ASCC) Alicia dela Rosa Bala affirmedthat the bloc is striving to intensify relations with external partnersincluding the SAARC and South Asian countries, highlighting thetime-honoured relationship between the two regions, as well as theparticipation of SAARC member states in ASEAN-driven regionalprocesses such as the ASEAN Regional Forum.

For hispart, Saleem expressed his wish to enhance the cooperation between thetwo secretariats as well as between member states of the two regions inthe spirit of the South-South cooperation that would be mutuallybeneficial.

The two secretariats discussed thedevelopment in the regions and reviewed the ASEAN-SAARC Secretariats’Partnership Work Plan (2008-2009) and the future practical cooperativeactivities. The discussions focused on issues such as trade andinvestment, energy, health, agriculture, tourism, disaster management,narcotics control, trafficking in persons and poverty reduction.-VNA
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