Background

Russia first participated in ASEAN as a guest of the Malaysian Government during its Chairmanship of the 24th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur in 1991. Subsequently, Russia was elevated to a full Dialogue Partner of ASEAN at the 29th AMM in July 1996 in Jakarta.

The ASEAN-Russia dialogue relations is steered by the ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference Plus One (ASEAN PMC+1) with Russia, the ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) and the ASEAN-Russia Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC). The ASEAN PMC+1 and the ASEAN-Russia SOM meet once a year while the ASEAN-Russia JCC meets once in 12 to 18 months. The ASEAN-Russia JCC is supported by the ASEAN-Russia Joint Planning and Management Committee and working groups in the areas of trade and economy, and science and technology. The ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit was celebrated on July 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to mark its 10 years of relations. 

II. Political and Security

Russia has been actively involved in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and ASEAN Post Ministerial Conferences (PMCs). ASEAN-Russia political and security cooperation is expected to strengthen given the convergence in interest in ensuring a peaceful region to pursue economic development and to combat the menace of terrorism and transnational crimes. 

ASEAN and Russia signed a Joint Declaration of the Foreign Ministers of Russian Federation and ASEAN on Partnership for Peace and Security and Prosperity and Development in Asia Pacific at the PMC+1 session with Russia on 19 June 2003 in Phnom Penh. The signing set the right momentum and tone for ASEAN and Russia to further strengthen political and security, economic and functional cooperation in the coming years. 

In the efforts to forge cooperation in the area of transnational crime, at the PMC+1 session in 2004, both sides signed an ASEAN-Russia Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism. The First Consultation between ASEAN Senior Officials on Transnational Crime and Russia was held on 29 September 2004 in Brunei Darussalam. During the consultation both sides agreed to start the work in implementing the joint declaration. 

ASEAN-Russia relationship will reach a milestone with Russia’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation after the ASEAN-Russia Ministerial Meeting on 29 November 2004 in Vientiane, Laos. Russia will be the second Nuclear Weapon State and UN Security Council member to sign the TAC after China, which will add weight to the TAC as the code of conduct for inter-state relations in the region.

III. Economic Cooperation 

ASEAN’s trade with Russia, while remaining low, has shown a positive upswing in recent years. The total trade for 2002 amounted to USD2.1 million while for the following year, it increased by 11 per cent to reach USD2.3 million. Russia’s exports to ASEAN remains heavily dependent on base metal and metal articles, chemicals and mineral products while ASEAN exports include machinery and electrical appliances, prepared foodstuffs, and fats and oils.

In an effort to boost trade ties, ASEAN and Russia have established a Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (ARWGTEC) and agreed to explore the possibility of convening the ARWGTEC back-to-back with the upcoming ASEAN-Russia JCC in 2004. Both sides are also developing an economic agreement to boost trade and other related cooperation. With a population of 150 million and being a key member of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia stands as an important emerging market for ASEAN in the future. 


IV. Functional Cooperation 

ASEAN and Russia are keen to pursue cooperation in the fields of science and technology, tourism, culture and people-to-people contacts. Both sides are looking at developing a work programme to move forward cooperation in a substantive manner once the economic cooperation agreement has been concluded in 2005. 

At the Third ASEAN Russia Joint Planning and Management Committee meeting on 15 April 2004 in Singapore, Russia expressed interest to pursue cultural cooperation with ASEAN. Russia also expressed interest to establish the ASEAN-Russia Working Group on Tourism to further cooperation in this area. ASEAN welcomes the proposals and both sides are now exploring possible small scale and practical projects that could be implemented soon to kick-start cooperation in the two areas.

On Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), Russia and Singapore had agreed to implement one project on civil aviation in Cambodia. The project would take the form of a joint seminar/workshop to be held in Phnom Penh. To date, consultation with Cambodia on the project is under way.