By V. Sankara
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (NNN-Bernama) — The Year 2022 will be an important milestone for the Ukraine-ASEAN relationship with the former focusing on acceding to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), says Ukraine Ambassador to Malaysia Olexander Nechytaylo.
In an interview with Bernama, Nechytaylo said Ukraine has applied to join the treaty relying on the support of Malaysia and other ASEAN members, adding that it intends to contribute more in the area of food security and cyber security via the treaty.
In July 2020 Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba expressed Ukraine’s aspiration to accede to the TAC and to apply for observer status in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.
In the short run, in August 2021 the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine received observer status in the ASEAN Interparliamentary Assembly. The decision was taken by consensus of ASEAN member states.
The Minister was of the view that Ukraine and ASEAN must work collectively and strive hard to reach the ambitious goal to achieve US$5 billion in total trade.
Following the aspiration to develop cooperation with ASEAN, in October this year the first Centre for ASEAN Countries Studies was launched in Kyiv as a result of collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the embassies of the ASEAN Member States in Ukraine (Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam).
TAC was established in 1976 and embodies universal principles of peaceful coexistence and friendly cooperation among states in Southeast Asia.
It is a legally-binding code for inter-state relations in the region and beyond to allow for accession by states outside Southeast Asia as well as for regional organisations whose members are sovereign states, among others.
As of January 2021, there are 43 High Contracting Parties to the TAC.
Nechytaylo also said that next year (2022), there are expected to be some high-level visits from Ukraine to Malaysia.
This was in conjunction with the 30th-anniversary celebration of diplomatic ties between Kuala Lumpur and Kyiv.
“Few bilateral documents are expected to be signed, with the most significant event being the inaugural meeting of the Bilateral Joint Trade Committee,” he said.
On Oct 26, Malaysia and Ukraine signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the field of scientific, technical and logistics research in Antarctica.
Nechytaylo said the signing of the MoU between the Sultan Mizan Antarctic Research Foundation and the National Antarctic Scientific Centre under the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine marked an important milestone by bringing the cooperation between both parties to a new level.
— NNN-BERNAMA