SINGAPORE, September 15. /TASS/. Russia and the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) intend to focus on trade and investment cooperation, digital transformation, and sustainable development, an official at the headquarters of the regional bloc of the organization told TASS on Wednesday.
This provides for a roadmap for trade and investment cooperation between Russia and ASEAN for the period 2021-2025. The changes to the roadmap were approved following the results of the 10th meeting of the ministers.
"The parties recognized the changes in the global economy due to the coronavirus pandemic and approved a revised roadmap," the ASEAN said.
"The key aspects are trade and investment, sustainable development, digital transformation, and cooperation in them will form the basis for a stable economic recovery after the pandemic," the official said.
Russia was represented at the meeting by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev. The participants of the meeting also "recognized the importance of vaccination programs against coronavirus and called for accelerating the production and equitable distribution of safe, affordable, effective and high-quality vaccines, which should ultimately become the key to an early economic recovery," the official at the headquarters stressed.
In addition, "the parties agreed on closer cooperation to find new mutually beneficial approaches to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, strengthen economic contacts and recover from stagnation and unemployment," the official said.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.