France cements ties with 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