KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Russia, a major dialogue partner of Asean, expects preparations to celebrate the 20th anniversary of partnership between both sides in 2016 will be on the agenda of the upcoming Asean-Russia Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Russia will be represented by its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the talks, part of a series of related meetings taking place on the heels of the 48th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here, from August 1 to 6.

Political counsellor at the Russian embassy here, Timur Sadykov, said Moscow considered Asean as a very important partner in the region and that it enjoyed good political dialogue with all Asean member states.

“2016 will mark the 20th anniversary of Asean-Russia relations, a milestone that will be marked with the convening of the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit.

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“We hope to discuss this with our Asean friends in the Kuala Lumpur talks,” he told Bernama.

Besides Russia, the other Asean dialogue partners are Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.

The Asean-Russia Dialogue Partnership could be traced back to July 1991 when the then deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation attended the opening of the 24th AMM in Kuala Lumpur as a guest of the Malaysian government.

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Russia was subsequently elevated to a full Dialogue Partner of Asean at the 29th AMM in July 1996 in Jakarta.

Sadykov noted that the business communities from both sides should continue to further explore trade and economic potential besides tapping opportunities in areas like energy and education.

In 2013, total trade between Asean and Russia grew by 9.9 per cent to US$19.9 billion (RM76.1 billion) over the US$18.2 billion a year earlier.

He said cooperation in fields such as science and technology, education, tourism and energy had expanded ever since Russia became a dialogue partner of Asean.

For the record, Sadykov said, some 100 Russians were currently studying in Malaysia and about 4,000 Malaysians were pursuing studies in Russia, mostly in medicine.

Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. — Bernama