ASEAN Secretary-General "Preparing for Post-COVID... Wants to Cooperate with Korea"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunbyeol] Lim Jook Hoi, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said on the 29th, "The COVID-19 pandemic is not the end," adding, "We must prepare for future pandemics. For this, we want to cooperate with Korea."

Secretary-General Lim emphasized three areas of cooperation between ASEAN and Korea during the '2nd New Southern Policy Forum' held jointly by the ASEAN-Korea Centre and the Jakarta-based think tank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), on the afternoon of the same day.

He said, "To prepare for another pandemic, we need to strengthen the healthcare sector's capabilities," and added, "I hope ASEAN and Korea will cooperate to prevent, detect, and respond." He further stated, "I want to learn from Korea about supply chain establishment, including artificial intelligence and e-commerce, and seek collaboration to realize sustainability in energy, infrastructure, transportation, and investment sectors."

Secretary-General Lim expressed gratitude for Korea's support to ASEAN countries with COVID-19 diagnostic kits and quarantine supplies, as well as the COVID fund contribution, and expressed a desire to further strengthen relations in the post-COVID era under the New Southern Policy framework.

The forum was organized to discuss Korea-ASEAN cooperation strategies in the post-COVID era. Park Bokyoung, Chairperson of the New Southern Policy Special Committee, introduced the seven key strategies of New Southern Policy Plus one by one, including healthcare cooperation, sharing Korean-style education models, and two-way cultural exchanges, stating, "Korea will cooperate in ASEAN's economic recovery."

Lim Sungnam, Korean Ambassador to ASEAN, said, "New Southern Policy Plus and ACRF were born as a result of transformative thinking to prepare for the post-COVID era," adding, "We expect joint prosperity between Korea and ASEAN through synergy between the two strategies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.