1.Dialogue: To strengthen bi-regional and bi-lateral dialogues in scientific cooperation and to assist the joint identification of topics for collaboration under FP7       thematic programmes.

2.Decision-Making: To report to EU-presidencies in order to incorporate recent political developments and to generally highlight EU-ASEAN initiatives within the political decision making process.

3.Networking: To network different stakeholders (such as universities, industry, government, civil society and donors) in order to strengthen research capacity.

4.Coherence: To facilitate the development and implementation of a coherent European level approach towards international S&T cooperation.

To increase the efficiency, to avoid redundancies, and to ensure the sustainability of successful activities of the past and to learn lessons, the SEA-EU-NET will consider relevant previous and ongoing bi-regional and bi-lateral activities both inside and outside the EU Framework Programme for the ASEAN Region. Moreover it will also function as a hub for the integration of upcoming FP7 projects and activities related to ASEAN, thus helping to incorporate them into the larger framework of the bi-regional dialogue.