Abu Dhabi: The UAE Minister of State, Ahmed Al Sayegh, has met with the Committee of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Abu Dhabi to talk about the UAE-ASEAN’s efforts to strengthen their strategic partnership after the UAE joined the ASEAN in 2022 as a Sectoral Dialogue Partner and the action plan for 2024–2028 was adopted.
The committee meeting was presided over by Malaysia’s ambassador to the UAE, Ahmad Fadil bin Haji Shamsuddin. Other ambassadors in attendance were those from Indonesia, the Philippines, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Republic of Singapore.
Several collaborative projects and initiatives within the Sectoral Dialogue Partnership between the United Arab Emirates and Southeast Asia were deliberated upon at the conference. Among them was the formulation of suggested projects intended to function as a proactive agenda for cooperation, in collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat.
The Committee members also discussed current ASEAN initiatives, highlighting the significance of the UAE’s involvement in increasing collaboration in the areas of trade, investment, economics, climate change, and renewable energy.
Al Sayegh conveyed gratitude to ASEAN for working together to establish the UAE’s role as a Sectoral Dialogue Partner. This is in line with the nation’s determination to consistently carry out the UAE-ASEAN action plan for 2024–2028, as well as the leadership of the UAE’s desire to continuously develop strategic partnerships between the two sides.
The ASEAN Ambassadors in the United Arab Emirates, for their part, praised the meeting and emphasized the Committee’s critical role in fostering collaboration between the two sides
Twice a year, the ASEAN Committee will convene in Abu Dhabi with the objective of monitoring shared objectives and advancements made in a number of areas by the UAE and the Association.