Apirat Sugondhabhirom, Thailand's ambassador to Ankara and chairperson of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ankara Committee, said he has great hope that the cooperation between ASEAN and Türkiye will achieve more success in the fields of peace, trade and the economy in the future.

Sugondhabhirom evaluated the relationship between the bloc and Türkiye speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) within the scope of the ASEAN week activities on Oct. 25.

Noting that ASEAN is an important international organization in the Southeast Asian region that consists of 10 Southeast Asian countries, Sugondhabhirom said that the peoples of the 10 countries work together for peace, stability, and economic and social growth.

In addition, Sugondhabhirom stated that they reached out to external partners including the European Union, the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Türkiye, and highlighted that Türkiye is also ASEAN's Sectoral Dialogue Partner.

"Türkiye and ASEAN have been partners for five years. We want to encourage more cooperation between ASEAN and Türkiye in many fields. ASEAN is an important player and actor in our region," Sugondhabhirom said.

"Türkiye is an important point at the intersection of Europe and Asia. Therefore, we have great hope that the cooperation between ASEAN and Türkiye will achieve further success in the fields of peace, trade, economic and people-to-people cooperation in the future," he added.

In addition, the ambassador explained that they decided to formalize their ASEAN-Türkiye contacts with Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu five years ago regarding the ASEAN-Türkiye Sectoral Dialogue Partnership targets.

Sugondhabhirom stated that Türkiye already has agreements with various ASEAN countries, but added that it should be made official and that they have formulated this relationship for this purpose.

"I know that the Turkish side also wants to go to a Full Dialogue Partnership. I hope this will happen as soon as possible. First we need to consult among the 10 countries of ASEAN, and then we must agree to accept Türkiye as a Full Dialogue Partner of ASEAN in the future," the ambassador said.

Stressing that they hold ASEAN-Türkiye Dialogue Partnership meetings with ASEAN every year with Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, Sugondhabhirom said that they hope to further promote trade, understanding, cultural exchange and human-to-human connection between ASEAN and Türkiye.

Referring to the ASEAN week events, Sugondhabhirom emphasized that the relations between states and governments have a solid foundation in human-to-human understanding.

Pointing to the importance of human-to-human bonds, Sugondhabhirom said, "In that respect, I think ASEAN awareness in the Turkish public and Türkiye's awareness in the minds of the ASEAN people is very important."

Noting that they are working to introduce ASEAN to the Turkish people and share with them information about ASEAN countries, Sugondhabhirom pointed out that they did this on the occasion of ASEAN week.

To improve ties with Asian countries in different areas, Türkiye in 2019 launched the Asia Anew initiative. The initiative offers a new vision that might shape the future of Turkish foreign policy as a whole. It aims to improve ties with Asian countries in various areas, including education, the defense industry, investments, trade, technology, culture and political dialogue.

Türkiye views ASEAN as a key organization in the region, considering its combined economy, dynamic population and strategic location. Türkiye applied to become a sectoral dialogue partner to ASEAN in 2015 and its application was accepted on Aug. 5, 2017, during the 50th meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers held in the Philippines.