JAKARTA (Sputnik) - Russia is an important partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in ensuring food security, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.
"Russia, as a major global producer of wheat and fertilizers, is an important ASEAN partner in ensuring food security," the ministry's website quoted Marsudi as saying Friday following a meeting of Russian and ASEAN foreign ministers in Laos. "Just symbolic events are not enough. We should focus on promoting concrete cooperation."
In addition to cooperation in the agricultural sector, ASEAN and Russia "need to work together to improve the resilience of food supply chains, especially in times of crisis," the minister said.
Marsoudi also welcomed Russia's role in building ASEAN's cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
"With a combined population of over 850 million people, the potential for ASEAN and EAEU cooperation is enormous, including in trade, investment, digital economy, cybersecurity and sustainable development," the minister added.
Laos, which holds the 2024 ASEAN chairmanship, is currently hosting the annual series of ministerial and post-ministerial meetings of the bloc and ASEAN Dialogue Partner countries.
ASEAN consists of ten Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. East Timor is set to become the eleventh ASEAN state in the near future.