On 27 February 2025, the ASEAN Brussels Committee (ABC) and Timor Leste, through the current Philippines chairship, hosted H.E. Birgit Stevens, Director General (DG) for Bilateral Affairs at the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, to a working lunch following the 2nd ABC meeting of the year.

DG Stevens hailed the steadfast relations between the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union on the one hand and the ASEAN Member States on the other, particularly emphasizing the vast potential of ASEAN’s rapid economic growth, and the region’s young and dynamic population.

The Ambassadors and DG Stevens agreed that trade and investment remain the primary pillars of the relationship with Belgium and the EU. They resolved to work towards greater cooperation in these areas and highlighted the opportunities to leverage Belgium’s strengths in such sectors as pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, renewable energy, and semiconductors, among others. DG Stevens also promoted further academic exchanges between Belgium and ASEAN Member States, encouraging the ABC to continue widening their engagement with the regional governments and the Belgian communities.

The ABC Ambassadors and DG Stevens also held a productive exchange of views regarding important geopolitical issues, with DG Stevens underscoring Belgium’s solid commitment to global peace, security and prosperity, as articulated in the coalition agreement of its newly installed federal government. The ABC Ambassadors expressed hope that Belgium’s and the EU’s engagement with ASEAN and the wider Indo-Pacific would translate into concrete and mutually beneficial outcomes.

#ASEANBrusselsCommittee #ASEANinAction