ASEAN and EU have "multifaceted partnership, source of investment for each other": Report

Hong Kong, December 16 (ANI): Despite being on a different page, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union have established themselves as two of the most successful regional organizations in the world, Asia Times reported. This year, ASEAN and the European Union will mark the 45th anniversary of their ties.
ASEAN and European Union have a "multifaceted partnership cutting across issues and are important sources of investment and trade for each other," according to Asia Times. According to the annual ASEAN survey, the people of Southeast Asian consider the EU a trustworthy partner, the report said.
Meanwhile, the European Union recognizes the centrality of ASEAN according to its own EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, as per the news report. The European Union was a postwar peace-centred regional integration project.
Meanwhile, the foundations of ASEAN included ideological designs with goals to counter communist threats and create a regional bloc, with external support, to counter any postwar revisionist tendencies.
For the past 45 years, ASEAN has witnessed massive mutations with regards to its organizing principles, priorities and its vision mission and self-perception, as per the news report. Changes in ASEAN's self-perception have influenced its ties with its external partners.
The European Union has influenced ASEAN in more ways, with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations often looking up to the European bloc for resilient institutional best practices and the ties largely remaining depending on a donor-recipient type.
The EU's ties with ASEAN have not been without challenges, according to Asia Times. There are several areas where both these organizations do not see eye-to-eye. However, the differences have not prevented these two organizations from making efforts to bolster their ties.
ASEAN and the European Union in 2020 decided to strengthen their ties to the level of strategic partners, which is expected to advance their level of engagement while is also making the summit-level dialogue a regular.
Both these regional organisations are deeply attached to each other and driven by their own and some shared respective sets of norms and values. A firm belief in a rules-based international order is defining feature of the ties between ASEAN and the EU.
Furthermore, their strong adherence to multilateralism and commitment to free and fair trade makes it even more imperative for them to work together to safeguard and strengthen the international order.
The challenges brought by the ongoing competition between the US and China are causing implications within the Indo-Pacific region and Europe. ASEAN and the EU are not oblivious to their responsibilities and the plausible role they could play in impacting their surroundings.
The threat of economic decoupling between the US and China could result in the fragmentation of global trade and could force nations to opt between rival camps depending on ideologies.
This year, the two organisations introduced a structured plan of action covering four identical areas of cooperation, including economic, security, sustainable connectivity and sustainable development.
One of the key area that comes under economic cooperation is promoting free and fair trade based on cross-border rules, according to Asia Times. ASEAN and the EU still face several obstacles, including ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement.
The initiative launched in 2007 has still a long way from the finish line. The EU only has FTAs with two ASEAN members, Singapore and Vietnam and it is negotiating with Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Meanwhile, European Union negotiations with Malaysia and Myanmar have been put on hold. Even the ASEAN's decision to hold negotiations through a bilateral approach failed to bring the negotiations to a quick conclusion, as per the news report.
Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry in March announced that plans were underway to resume the negotiations that had been stuck since 2012 after several rounds of negotiations, as per the news report. There is no clear indication that the government led by Anwar Ibrahim's next steps will include Malaysia-European Union Free Trade Agreement. (ANI)