EU ambassador on how member countries can realise the full potential of Asean

Michael Pulch also says now is the perfect time for EU to join hands with Asean economy

Published Thu, May 21, 2015 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

COUNTRIES in Asean should not let national interests get in the way of the regional grouping realising its full potential, Michael Pulch, European Union ambassador to Singapore, said on Thursday.

"The starting point in Europe was that we decided to bring parts of our sovereignty together, to basically group sovereignty in certain areas, starting with trade," he said at a Singapore Press Club talk, noting that European convergence grew even stronger after 9/11.

To him, Asean will always be an inter-governmental process in which the member states agree on policies together, he said…