Russia and Belgium Appoint Ambassadors to ASEAN

ASEAN Secretariat, 21 February 2009 

Belgium’s Ambassador to ASEAN, Marc Trenteseau, and Russia’s Ambassador to ASEAN, Alexander A. Ivanov, presented their letters of appointment to the Secretary-General of ASEAN this week. 

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr Surin Pitsuwan, said, “The appointment of Ambassadors toASEAN will certainly contribute to the development and deepening of relations between ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners.”

 Dr Surin Pitsuwan and H.E. Marc Trentesea 

Belgium is the sixth EU Member State to have appointed an Ambassador to ASEAN. The ASEAN-EU partnership, which started in 1972 and formalised in 1977, has been fruitful in the form of development cooperation, trade and investment. The EU is the largest investor in ASEAN and two-way trade in 2007 stood at USD 186 billion. It was recently announced that all 27 EU Member States will appoint Ambassadors to ASEAN. Ambassador Marc Trentesea is concurrently the Belgian Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia.

 

Dr Surin Pitsuwan and H.E. Alexander A. Ivanov 

Russia is the 10th ASEAN Dialogue Partner to have appointed an Ambassador to ASEAN. Russia has set up a partnership fund (ASEAN-Russian Federation Dialogue Partnershi Financial Fund) to facilitate cooperation between ASEAN and the Russian Federation in the areas of science and technology, trade, culture, education, energy and others. Ambassador Alexander A. Ivanov is concurrently the Russian Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia.