Switzerland participates in ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting

A handout photo made available by Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows (L-R) Myanmar Permanent Foreign Secretary Aung Kyaw Moe, Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Maris Sangiampongsa, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Laos Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan, and Brunei's Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato Erywan Pehin Yusof, Cambodian Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, East Timor Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas, and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn holding hands for a group photo at the 25th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' meeting, part of the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting, in Vientiane, Laos, 27 July 2024. Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened at a summit hosted by Laos in the capital of Vientiane to tighten diplomatic relations and discuss the ongoing civil unrest in Myanmar and tension in the South China Sea. EPA/Thai Ministry Of Foreign Affairs

On Friday, State Secretary Alexandre Fasel of the Swiss foreign ministry represented Switzerland at the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers. This engagement was part of a four-day tour of Southeast Asia, aimed at advancing the Swiss Federal Council's Southeast Asia Strategy.

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According to the Swiss foreign ministry’s announcement on Friday, the strategy seeks to deepen Switzerland’s relations with this economically significant region. During the ASEAN meeting, Fasel held a bilateral discussion with Saleumxay Kommasith, the Foreign Minister of Laos, which currently holds the ASEAN chairmanship for 2024. The meeting also included representatives from ASEAN partner countries.

On Friday morning, Fasel and the Laotian Minister for Public Works and Transport signed a bilateral agreement on air transport. The Federal Council had approved the agreement on November 22, 2023. The Swiss foreign ministry stated that the agreement provides the necessary operational flexibility for the airlines involved in flights between the two countries and will positively impact both economies.

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Earlier in the week, on Wednesday and Thursday, Fasel visited Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where he held bilateral meetings with Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long. Fasel’s tour began on Tuesday in Singapore, where discussions focused on science, digitalisation, and regional challenges. On Tuesday evening, the State Secretary inaugurated the new building of the Swiss Embassy in Singapore, described by the Swiss foreign ministry as “a modern, functional, and sustainable structure—symbolic of the bilateral relations between the two countries.”

Adapted from German by DeepL/amva

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