ASEM 8 - Minister Vanackere meets his Indonesian and Russian counterparts
In the margin of the ASEM summit in Brussels, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Vanackere respectively met his Indonesian and Russian colleagues on 4 October.
With his Indonesian colleague Natalegawa, he came to the agreement to further deepen the good bilateral relations, particularly in view of the strategic position of Indonesia in Southeast Asia, Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship in 2011, the Indonesian membership of the G20 and this country’s democratic development.
"There is mainly a lot of potential for closer cooperation with Indonesia on an economic level", continued the Minister. In this respect, Vanackere emphasised the importance of concluding a bilateral agreement on the protection of mutual investments. "The negotiations are still being held. My Indonesian colleague and I have agreed to prioritise this so these negotiations can end soon", said Vanackere.
With his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov, Minister Vanackere first and foremost discussed Russian President Medvedev’s next official visit to Belgium on 8 December. "This high level visit indicates the profundity of Belgian-Russian relationships", said Vanackere. "It is also the perfect preparation of the economic mission to Russia, lead by HRH Prince Filip, which will take place in April 2011".
Vanackere and Lavrov also discussed several specific bilateral dossiers, with a focus on the increasing economic-commercial relations between ussia and Belgium. "Hi-tech and innovation deserve our special attention", according to Minister Vanackere. Finally, both Ministers briefly examined several dossiers relating to current international affairs, such as the G20, the reform of the international financial institutions and the coming climate conference in Cancun.
