ASEAN-CELAC engagement is limited to dialogue at the ministerial level at the
sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). There has only been
one ASEAN-CELAC Ministerial Meeting which was held on 27 September 2014 at
the sidelines of the 69th UNGA in New York. The Meeting was co-chaired by the
Foreign Minister of Singapore (Singapore volunteered to co-chair the Meeting) and
the Foreign Minister of Costa Rica (President Pro Tempore of CELAC for 2014).
At the Meeting, CELAC expressed its interest in forging cooperation with ASEAN
in areas such as agriculture and fisheries, nanotechnology, and disaster
management, among others. CELAC also proposed to promote exchange of
information and sharing of ASEAN’s experience in the areas of human rights
promotion, education, poverty reduction, as well as ASEAN’s statistical system.
However, there has yet to be any follow-up actions to the decision of the Meeting.
• The coordinatorship of ASEAN-CELAC relations is rotated alphabetically among
ASEAN Member States on one-year basis. Malaysia is the country coordinator for
ASEAN-CELAC relations for 2021.