Pursuing further cooperation with the ASEAN is one of the priorities in the French Government’s foreign policy, affirms the new French ambassador to ASEAN.

Speaking at a ceremony to present her letter of credentials to Secretary General of ASEAN Le Luong Minh at the ASEAN headquarters on July 9, Ambassador Corrine Breuzé said France’s intention is clearly reflected by its participation in the ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2006 as well as its backing of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ).

She noted that ASEAN-France ties have been built on a firm foundation of relations between France and each ASEAN member country.

The diplomat announced that French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is scheduled to pay an official visit to the ASEAN Secretariat and meet Secretary General Le Luong Minh in early August to discuss recent developments in the ASEAN region as well as other regional and international issues of mutual concern.

France attaches importance to the visit which is expected to create new impetus for the friendship and cooperation between the two sides, she added.

For his part, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh underscored cooperation activities between France and ASEAN members, including the roundtable dialogue on ASEAN-EU business, the training programme for ASEAN’s young diplomats, the capacity building programme for Myanmar to assume the ASEAN Chair in 2014 and the capacity building programme on climate change negotiations.

The ASEAN leader suggested that France increase its assistance to ASEAN in areas relating to ASEAN’s Master Plan on Connectivity, the process of building the ASEAN Community, narrowing the development gap among member countries and the second phase of the Initiative on ASEAN Integration.-VNA