Venezuela reiterates request to join ASEAN to form a great alliance with member states

This Thursday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, reiterated the request to enter the Treaty of Cooperation and Friendship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to form a great alliance with the 10 member states:

“We want to open a great alliance with the 10 ASEAN member states, where we do not have to depend on third parties, but be able to work directly,” said Arreaza, at the 3rd ASEAN Journey in Venezuela, which was held by video-conference from Caracas.

Therefore, he stressed that they formalize the request expressed at the beginning of 2020, since for Venezuela it is important “to be able to have a much closer and much more productive relationship with ASEAN.”

He added that investments of capital and companies of the members of the Southeast Asian integration mechanism are welcomed to the country thanks to the Anti-Blockade Law.

“We have a new legislative framework, a law to face the economic blockade, which guarantees discretion in the negotiation process, of all the necessary information, as well as opening new possibilities for investment, for productive alliances,” said the Chancellor, quoted in a press release.

Arreaza said that at the end of the international flight restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he will visit each member country of ASEAN.

Institutions of the Venezuelan State such as the Productive Investment Center and the Foreign Trade Bank (Bancoex), and ambassadors from the ASEAN countries in Caracas participated in the virtual meeting.