At the consultation, the two regional blocs re-affirmed their commitment on working toward the ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement. The parties said they would instruct senior economic officials to intensify their work/ and come up with appropriate recommendations to be presented at the next ASEAN Economic Ministers-EU Consultation.
Both parties said they were happy with progress made in the implementation of the 2015-2016 ASEAN-EU Trade and Investment Work Programme. Last year, ASEAN-EU two-way trade stood at 219 billion USD, an 11 per cent increase year-on-year. The EU remains ASEAN's second largest trading partner./.
