PUTRAJAYA JULY 6: Malaysia hopes that Russia would continue to support the strengthening of ASEAN’s central role in Asia-Pacific region as the geopolitical dynamic would have great bearing on the peace and stability of the region.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said, it is Malaysia’s hopes that Russia would explore practical cooperation in priority areas outlined in the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) through ASEAN-led mechanisms to strengthen confidence and trust as well as enhance practical cooperation of mutual benefit.
Hishammuddin said, against this backdrop, the main thrust is for ASEAN and Russia to continue playing a constructive role in strategic areas with the aim of creating more value to the existing environment.
“By adopting the principle of prosper-thy-neighbour, Malaysia strongly believesthat realising the full potential of ASEAN would bring substantial benefits to Russia, thus contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region.
“A balanced relationship and inclusive cooperation in the region would contribute towards harnessing regional dialogue and cooperation as well as a region of development and prosperity for all, instead of creating theatres of competing strategic interests,” Hishammuddin said at the Special ASEAN-Russia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held virtually today.
“As we continue to work hand-in hand to emerge stronger from this “crisis”, and as this year marks the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-Russia relations, we mustevolve the shared vision of our relationship into something realizable for our people-across political, security, economic and socio-cultural fronts,” he added.
Hishammuddin stressed that Malaysia welcomes the proposal to convene the 4th ASEAN-Russia Summit in October 2021 in view of ASEAN-Russia 30 years ofrelations and 25 years of dialogue partnership.
Earlier Hishammuddin emphasized that ASEAN-Russia partnership should encompass a broader range of spheres to recover from the devastating socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said, the areas of cooperation that should be high in our agenda are strategic sectors that would revive economic growth such as trade and investment, tourism, health, science and technology, education, digital economy, financial technology (fintech), artificial intelligence, Internet of things )(IoT), research and development (R&D), high value-added services, innovation and maritime economy. –Malaysia World News
