Foreign ministers from member countries of the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) started talks on integration mechanisms and increasing cooperation in the economy, politics and security in Madrid , Spain , on May 26.

The meeting is expected to sign the Madrid Declaration, establishing future targets for bilateral cooperation, and review progress on the implementation of the Nuremberg Action Plan, signed by both blocs in 2007, as well as decisions reached at the Phnom Penh Meeting (Cambodia) in May 2009.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the 1980 Cooperation Agreement between the EU and ASEAN that opened the door for economic and political exchanges between the two groups.

Founded in 1967, ASEAN is a regional cooperation group that now covers an area of 4.5 million sq.km and a total population of 576 million as of 2007. It has a combined gross national product of almost 3 trillion USD.

EU is an economic and political union of 27 member countries that have a population of nearly 500 million. It is currently one of the most developed regional cooperation group.

Source: VNA