Philippine Ambassador to the EU, H.E. Victoria Bataclan hosts ASEAN Brussels Committee lunch for Mr. Pedro Serrano of the European External Action Service

29 February 2012 - H.E. Victoria Bataclan, Philippine Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of the Philippine Mission to the European Union hosted a lunch today of the ASEAN Brussels Committee with Mr. Pedro Serrano, Director for South and Southeast Asia of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

Seven Ambassadors of the ABC were present including the incumbent Chair of the Committee, Brunei Ambassador H.E. Mr. Dato Paduka Serbini Ali. The Ambassadors personally expressed their pleasure to Ambassador Bataclan for this initiative, as it was a good opportunity to officially meet for the first time Mr. Serrano - who only assumed his position two months ago - as a group.

The informal discussion that took place during the lunch was mostly an exchange of views on the current direction of ASEAN-EU relations, especially in the wake of the 19^th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting that is scheduled to be held in Brunei on 26-27 April 2012. Other global developments, which both sides displayed keen interest on, were also tackled.

Ambassador Bataclan remarked that, "this initial meeting of the ABC with our new counterpart official in the EEAS was quite productive, as there was an air of cordiality and openness amongst us which I believe is key to continuing this constructive dialogue towards deepening further the already good relations between ASEAN and the EU".

The ASEAN Brussels Committee (ABC) - comprised of the ten Ambassadors in Brussels of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - is officially mandated by ASEAN to promote its profile in the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.