(AseanAll)  — The 9th ASEAN-Switzerland Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AS-JSCC) Meeting held at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat on November 26, 2024 underscored the need for both sides to further expand cooperation for mutual benefit.

ASEAN and Switzerland noted ongoing developments in ASEAN, including the outcomes of the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and Related Summits held last month in Vientiane;  Lao PDR’s 2024 ASEAN Chairmanship theme “ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience” and its priorities for the year;  updates on the implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Work Plan IV;  progress on the ASEAN Smart Cities Network initiative;  and ASEAN’s efforts to promote sustainable development.  Concurrently, Switzerland apprised the Meeting on current domestic affairs, efforts in navigating international and regional challenges, future economic development and priorities.

Both sides reviewed the significant progress made in the implementation of the ASEAN-Switzerland Practical Cooperation Areas (2022-2026) through various activities to date and acknowledged the need to advance cooperation in key areas such as combatting transnational crime, including drug-related crimes, terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, mine action, human rights with support for the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR),  protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers through the Poverty Reduction through Safe Migration, Skills Development and Enhanced Job Placement in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand (PROMISE) Programme, and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) through the flagship programme ASEAN-Swiss TVET Initiative (ASTI).

Both sides recognised the need to intensify cooperation and collaboration in key critical and emerging areas of biodiversity, environmental protection and Nature-based Solution (NbS), food, agriculture and forestry, disaster management and humanitarian assistance, and green finance transition.

To amplify the potential of the Sectoral Dialogue Partnership, the Meeting underlined the need for closer collaboration in areas such as digital and good governance, energy, science, technology and innovation, transboundary haze pollution, public health, sustainability, smart cities, and connectivity, as well as in supporting the Strategic Plans to Implement the ASEAN Community Vision 2045.  Additionally, both sides recognised the need to bolster the promotion and socialisation of the partnership to all stakeholders.

The Meeting also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.

The 9th AS-JSCC Meeting was co-chaired by Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for the ASEAN Economic Community, and Heinrich Schellenberg, Head of the Asia Pacific Division at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of the Swiss Confederation.  Members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN or their representatives were in attendance.  Timor-Leste participated as Observer.