ASEAN and Italy renewed their commitment to further strengthen cooperation at the third meeting of the ASEAN-Italy Development Partnership Cooperation Committee held recently at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

The meeting highlighted the progress made in the ASEAN-Italy cooperation, particularly in the priority areas outlined in the ASEAN-Italy Development Partnership: Practical Cooperation Areas (PCA) for 2022-2026, and hoped that the PCA will further substantiate cooperation with a focus on areas where both sides have expertise and mutual interests.

Since Italy was conferred the Development Partner of ASEAN status in September 2020, both sides have made a number of concerted efforts to institutionalise and substantiate the partnership. Such efforts include the identification and development of tangible cooperation projects in various sectors including cultural heritage, cybersecurity, agriculture mechanisation, sustainable coastal and maritime development, environment protection, geothermal energy, fishing gear recycling, agricultural mechanisation, as well as space and smart technology. In 2022, Italy has provided capacity-building programmes in various areas of cooperation including cybercrime, sustainable coastal and maritime development, and the law of the sea/anti-piracy.

Both sides also deliberated on other potential areas for cooperation which include maritime security, transnational crimes, cybersecurity, counterterrorism, digital economy, renewable energy, green infrastructure, green growth, space technology, sustainable tourism, blue economy, food security, smart and sustainable agriculture, climate action, people-to-people exchange, and disaster management./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency