Brussels, 26/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei agreed, on Thursday 26 April, to launch negotiations on a bilateral partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) between the EU27 and the small landlocked Sultanate of Brunei surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, to the north of the island of Borneo. “The EU and Brunei have long enjoyed friendly and fruitful relations. These have been intensified for the last three years as Brunei has been responsible within ASEAN for coordinating the organisation's relations with the EU, a role which Brunei has performed with great diligence and creativity”, Catherine Ashton was pleased to state. She is attending a ministerial EU/ASEAN foreign affairs meeting in the Sultanate of Brunei until Friday. The PCA between the EU and Brunei will provide a framework for closer cooperation in a range of areas including politics, economics and trade. (EH/transl.jl)