note on EC and ASEAN meeting during ASEAN COST

The important bi-regional cooperation between EC and ASEAN was given a significant boost when Director for International Cooperation in DG Research, Mary Minch, and her colleagues, met with the ASEAN Committee for Science and Technology (COST) in Bali, Indonesia, on May 30, 2009.

The meeting was a follow up from last year's informal ministerial meeting and consultative senior officials meeting between EC and ASEAN COST held in Manila, Philippines. It was then agreed to strengthen the cooperative links between the two regions through a regular policy dialogue in science and technology. This approach is in line with the "Strategic European Framework for International Science and Technology Cooperation" in which bi-regional cooperation was specifically highlighted as a promising way forward with important partners.