Vietnam enhances its role as responsible member of ASEAN

The 33rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings are underway in Singapore where leaders of ASEAN countries and partners will compare notes on regional and global issues affecting the prosperity of each nation and ASEAN as a whole.

Leaders of the 10 ASEAN members and ASEAN’s 8 dialogue partners are attending the 33rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings, the final activities of the ASEAN Year in Singapore. The related meetings include ASEAN+3 ( with China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN meeting with China, South Korea, Japan, the US, India, Australia, and Russia, and the 2nd Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meeting.

The 33rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings are taking place at a moment when many regional and global developments are confronting the regional bloc. Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said, “ASEAN and other regional organizations are facing great challenges across the globe. The UK leaving the EU will have an economic impact. Security threats come from instability in the Middle East and North Africa, terrorism, climate change, and epidemics.”

The topic “Innovative and resilient ASEAN”, proposed by the host country, Singapore, is discussed in the ASEAN Leaders' Vision for a Resilient and Innovative ASEAN, which suggests cooperation to strengthen ASEAN resilience against external impacts, reinforce ASEAN’s central position in the region, and take advantage of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The presence of so many world leaders at ASEAN Summits testifies to ASEAN’s growing importance. The regional group has yielded positive results during 3 years of realizing the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and Master Plan to build an ASEAN Community on 3 pillars.

The Community has achieved 239/290 security cooperation activities, 80/118 priorities for economic cooperation, and 100% of its cultural and social commitments. Economic growth is forecast to hit 5.1% this year and 5.2% next year.

ASEAN’s external cooperation has been expanded through practical initiatives. Other countries respect and desire to step up cooperation with ASEAN and support the ASEAN Community. 91 countries have ambassadors to ASEAN while 53 ASEAN Committees have been established non-ASEAN countries.

ASEAN reinforces solidarity

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh led a Vietnamese delegation to the events.

Addressing these meetings, Deputy PM Minh acknowledged remarkable progress in the building of the ASEAN Community and the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 over the past years. He suggested ASEAN countries continue to promote solidarity and self-resilience, as well as stay persevering with traditional principles and methods, while staying flexible and creative in dealing with arising challenges. 

He underlined the need for ASEAN to focus on ensuring regional peace and security, maintaining its central role, reforming processes and procedures, and improving capacity in responding to emergencies, and increase coordination among agencies.

The grouping should persist with agreed principles, and redouble efforts to ensure peace, security and stability in the East Sea, comply with international law, exercise self-restraint, not militarize and take actions to complicate the situation, pledge to settle disputes via peaceful measures on the basis of respect for international law, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) DOC and soon reach the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).