DFA Undersecretary Joins ASEAN-EU Senior Officials Meeting in Belgium
(Photo courtesy of the EU)
BRUSSELS 07 February 2019 — Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Policy Enrique A. Manalo, Philippine Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), joined other ASEAN colleagues and the ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General in a meeting with senior officials from the European Union (EU) and its member states, held in Brussels on 20 January 2019.
The meeting was co-chaired by Singapore’s SOM leader and Permanent Secretary Chee Wee Kiong, and EU Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Action Service Gunnar Wiegand.
In preparation for the 22nd ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting held the next day, ASEAN and EU discussed cooperation across pillars, and negotiated the content of the joint statement adopted by the Ministers which among others, agreed in principle to elevate to the level of strategic partnership the EU’s dialogue relationship with ASEAN. END
