The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, visited Cambodia on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 November for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. He called for closer ties between the EU and the ten ASEAN countries. In particular, he called for “stepping up work on trade agreements”.
ASEAN countries should also continue to advance their economic integration programmes, he said. This applies “especially to removing non-tariff barriers to trade”, he said.
For Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who chaired the meeting in Phnom Penh, “the presence of Charles Michel at the ASEAN summit proves the strength of the relationship between ASEAN and the EU”.
The next EU-ASEAN summit will be held on 14 December in Brussels.
Olaf Scholz also promotes trade agreements
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was also on a trip to the region. He visited Vietnam on 13 November and then Singapore on 14 November. He hailed the free trade agreements with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and Singapore as success stories. There is a need to diversify trade relations, he said, in view of the changing situation in China. The week before, Mr Scholz had met his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping (see EUROPE 13057/13).
Finally, like Mr Michel, he warned against protectionism and trade restrictions. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)