Mr. Rodolfo C. Severino, Jr.

Secretary General

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The ASEAN Secretariat 70 A  JL

Sisingamangaraja, Jakarta

Indonesia

 

Dear Secretary General Severino:

 

Thank you for your letter of August 10, 2000, referring to the 15th ASEAN-US Dialogue, held May 24-25,2000, in Kuala Lumpur.

 

I am particularly pleased with the opportunity to increase cooperation on issues regarding agriculture and agricultural trade between the United States and the ASEAN community, and look forward to continuing to work with you in this regard. For preliminary purposes, I am designating Mr. Timothy Galvin, Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service, as the point of contact for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). A USDA staff member has already met with ASEAN agriculture committee members in Singapore (September 26-27) and Jakarta (September 28-29) to discuss specific activities that might be implemented under this initiative.

 

Again, thank you for your letter, and for your commitment to a closer working relationship between ASEAN and the United States on issues of importance to agriculture and agricultural trade.