Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the commitment while addressing a ceremony in Hanoi on August 7 to mark the 43^rd anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Mr Dung said despite many upheavals, ASEAN has become a close-knit and dynamic cooperation organisation of 10 Southeast Asian nations, with an increasing role internationally for the sake of peace, stability, mutual understanding and trust.

Results of cooperation within the bloc as well as between it and its dialogue partners have created an important material prerequisite for ASEAN to expand integration in the future, and increase its international role and status, testifying to the bloc’s sustainability and vitality.

Reviewing ASEAN achievements over the past four decades, the PM noted that ASEAN is the key factor in ensuring the peaceful environment, security and cooperation for development in the region. It has exerted efforts in boosting political-security cooperation, building codes of conduct to promote mutual understanding and trust, and prevent disputes among its member countries.

He said ASEAN has already completed its idea of forming a 10-member bloc, encouraging member countries to overcome historical barriers and differences to build and live under the same roof, for the sake of peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

At the same time, ASEAN has built relations of all-round cooperation with many key powers in the world, developed initiatives and taken the leading role in several cooperation frameworks, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Through this, ASEAN has created conditions for key partners outside Southeast Asia to get involved in settling common security challenges. The association has succeeded in signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation regulating relations among its member countries and between the grouping and its dialogue partners.

ASEAN countries have demonstrated their strong commitment not to using, developing, creating and stockpiling nuclear weapons by signing the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ). It has encouraged nuclear weapon states to join the treaty to make it effective in reality.  

ASEAN and China have signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), showing their commitment to maintaining peace and security in the East Sea by restraining themselves from complicating the situation and settling all disputes through peaceful means, paving the way for signing the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

According to Mr Dung, ASEAN has played a key role in boosting regional cooperation and integration in East Asia, especially in economics and trade. The grouping has initiated and helped create an appropriate framework for increasing East Asian cooperation through mechanisms, from ASEAN+1 to ASEAN+3, and East Asia Summits.  

In addition, he said, ASEAN has helped found and make an important role in inter-regional cooperation mechanisms such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC).

ASEAN is aware and takes action to step up inter-regional cooperation. Following the establishment of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 1992, the association is planning to form a single market and a single production foundation through the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

The grouping is currently building a blueprint for ASEAN connectivity that aims to connect traffic, telecommunication and information technology infrastructure, institutions and people within ASEAN, extending out to East Asia, in which ASEAN is the core.

ASEAN has taken the lead in establishing a network of free trade areas (FTA) with each of key partners in the region such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. It has speeded up economic and trade cooperation programmes with the US, Canada, the European Union and Russia.

Mr Dung said that ASEAN is conducting a feasibility study on an FTA in East Asia, and if it is feasible, it would be the largest FTA in the world, housing more than 2 billion people and having a total GDP value of US$10,000 billion.

ASEAN has introduced initiatives on finance-banking, especially the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) and the establishment of the ASEAN+3 Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility.

With its strategically geographical position, plus open policies and significant contributions, Mr Dung said, ASEAN has become an indispensable partner for big countries and centres in the world. All partners have attached great importance to increasing comprehensive cooperation with ASEAN bilaterally and multilaterally, assisted the association in building the community, and supported its central role in the region.

However, the Vietnamese Prime Minister said the association should make a greater effort to ensure its central role in the region to fulfil its target of building a united ASEAN Community by 2015 based on three pillars: politics-security, economics, and socio-culture amidst complications in the region and the world.

At their 16^th summit in Hanoi in April 2010, he said ASEAN leaders agreed to speed up the building of the ASEAN Community, expand the association’s external relations and maintain ASEAN’s central role in the region. Accordingly, ASEAN should strengthen solidarity and unity, increase intra-bloc cooperation, harmonise national and regional interests, and improve the quality of “unity in diversity”.

ASEAN should continue create conditions for its partners to get deeper involved in and contribute to settling issues relating to peace, security and development in the region in the principle of supporting the goal of building the ASEAN Community and ensuring the central role of ASEAN, said Mr Dung. 

He said the association should continue to form the solid core in combining and harmonising groups of interest in the region, and in connecting current cooperation mechanisms and frameworks.

To do this, he said, ASEAN should improve the quality and efficiency of cooperation with partners through ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum. 

We should ensure that the enlargement of EAS with the participation of Russia and the US, as well as the ASEAN Defence Minister Meeting (ADMM) Plus meeting will make a positive contribution to maintaining peace, security and development in East Asia, in conformity with the agreed objectives and principles. We must make efforts to ensure that any new mechanism of cooperation must support and be based on existing forums, with ASEAN performing the central role, said Mr Dung. 

To this end, he said, ASEAN should continue its efforts to maintain regional peace and security, deal with imminent risks that might cause instability. It needs to perform its leading role in promoting dialogues and cooperation in political-security issues, effectively implement the task of building an ASEAN Politics-Security Community, effectively use existing tools and mechanisms such as TAC, SEANWFZ and DOC to ensure regional peace and security.

Economically, Mr Dung called on member states to make stronger commitments to trade liberalisation and the opening of markets, and overcome hurdles, particularly trade protectionism, affecting regional economic integration. In addition, the association should speed up the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and ASEAN Connectivity as well as free trade areas (FTA) agreements with its partners, while implementing development policies sustainably and equitably, and ensuring that economic growth is closely linked to social development and environmental protection.

He also called on member states to speed up the establishment of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community to serve and increase the quality of life for all, while serving as a responsible member of the international community in addressing global challenges, particularly the financial-economic crisis, climate change, natural disasters and epidemics.

The PM reviewed Vietnam’s admission to the association 15 years ago, saying the country has since taken an active part in and made significant contributions to the association’s growth and achievements. A closely integrated and united ASEAN with an important role and status internationally, completely meets Vietnam’s basic and long-term interest. Its membership has also brought important and practical benefits to national development and security.

As an active and responsible member, Vietnam will continue to do its utmost to successfully build the ASEAN community by 2015, said Mr Dung.

First and foremost, he said, Vietnam vows to fulfil its role as ASEAN President this year under the motto: Towards the ASEAN Community: From Vision to Action. 

The country will continue to work closely with other ASEAN countries, friends and partners to strive for a closely integrated, united and prosperous ASEAN community and for a Southeast Asia and East Asia of peace, stability, cooperation and development.