On 10 October 2012, Mr. Abdulrahim Datumada, First Secretary, attended the ASEAN Family Day at the Embassy of Vietnam in Ankara.

The ASEAN Family Day was organised   by H.E. Mr. Nguyen The Cuong, Ambassador of Vietnam to Turkey. Apart from ambassadors and diplomatic staff from the ASEAN countries, the function received an honour from H.E. Mr. Mehmet Fatih Ceylan, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, who gave an opening remark that stresses the importance of deepening the ASEAN-Turkish ties in various aspects.

The ASEAN Family Day was aimed at strengthening the already close and cordial ties among the ASEAN families in Ankara, emphasizing the friendly relations between ASEAN countries and Turkey and promoting ASEAN to the event’s participants. On the day, each Embassy also exhibited its local handicrafts and tourism promotional items.

ASEAN stands for “Association of South East Asian Nations”, consisting of 10 member countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. At present, 6 countries sets up embassies in Ankara, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ASEAN cooperation is based on the three main pillars: (1) politics and security, (2) economy and (3) socio-culture, with its goal to achieve an integration of the ASEAN Community. However, the economic pillar has been advanced, with up and coming realization of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. The AEC will enable free trade in goods and service and free mobility of people without visa requirement, believed to bring about economic growth, increase in ASEAN competitive edge in the world market and reduction of development gaps among the ASEAN members.

ASEAN cooperation is not limited to ASEAN members only. Turkey signed the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in 2010. The signage symbolizes Turkey’s interest in the ASEAN region, due to the ASEAN’s increasing roles, politically and economically. It also serves as an important basis to expand the ASEAN-Turkish relations to other areas.

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Wichulee Chotbenjakul

Royal Thai Embassy, Ankara