OREANDA-NEWS. The biennial foreign ministerial meeting between the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, will be organised in Bangkok on 14 October. Finland's representative at the meeting will be Minister for Foreign Affairs Timo Soini.

The meeting will focus on the future development of the relations between the regions. The EU aims to diversify the cooperation to cover not only economic questions but also political matters. Topical international issues will also be on the meeting agenda.

In addition to participation in the EU-ASEAN meeting, Minister Soini will have bilateral meetings with ministers representing the ASEAN countries and see representatives of Finnish companies based in and Finns living in Thailand. Minister Soini will also participate the EDUCA 2016 exhibition, where the Embassy of Finland will host a special seminar on Finnish early childhood education. The Minister will hold a speech in the event.

ASEAN is an association of ten southeastern countries, established in 1967. The Member States are Thailand, Malesia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. ASEAN aims to promote economic growth in the region, support the countries' social and cultural development and the stabilise the political situation.