08 April 2016 – At its third meeting which was held in Moscow on April 06, the ASEAN-Russia Eminent Persons Group (AREPG) adopted a set of recommendations “which are action oriented and designed to guide future relations between ASEAN and Russia,” according to the Philippine Ambassador to the Russian Federation Carlos D. Sorreta, the Philippine member of the AREPG.

The AREPG was established by the Foreign Ministers of the ASEAN member countries and Russia in August last year to review ASEAN-Russia relations over the two decades since Russia became a full dialogue partner of ASEAN. The AREPG was tasked to explore ways to further strengthen and deepen this relationship and make recommendations on its future direction.

“These recommendations will be presented to the Leaders at the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit which will be held in Sochi, Russia on 19-20 May 2016,” Ambassador Sorreta said.

Prior to its Moscow gathering, the AREPG met in Vientiane, Lao PDR from January 19 to 20 and in Siem Reap, Cambodia from February 29 to March 01.

Ambassador Sorreta said that although he cannot discuss the contents of the AREPG’s recommendations, “these are very substantial, specific and workable and based on the many years of study and experience by the distinguished members of the group.”

“We started by taking stock of our present cooperation in the context of ASEAN’s transformation into a Community and the global and regional landscapes. We saw that our partnership could be further strengthened,” according to Ambassador Sorreta. “In the end, we identified key elements in the areas of political-security, economic and social-cultural cooperation to advance ASEAN-Russia relations towards a strategic partnership,” he added.

The AREPG is composed of senior foreign affairs officials, retired ambassadors, scholars and members of the academe, and business leaders. Each ASEAN member country had one representative while Russia had five. AREPG members were appointed in their personal, non-official capacities.

The AREPG was co-chaired by Russia and Laos.  Laos is the current Chair of ASEAN.

Each Eminent Person was allowed one assistant of their choice. The assistant for the Philippine Eminent Person was Ms. Cecille Lao, Second Secretary at the Philippine Permanent Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta. END