Vietnam suggests ASEAN enhance connectivity
VOV.VN - Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son suggested that ASEAN move to strengthen digital, infrastructure, institution, and people-to-people connectivity, while addressing the ASEAN Foreign Ministers (AMM)' Retreat that opened on January 29 in Luang Prabang, Laos.
The bloc should work to raise its intra-bloc trade and investment, turning itself into an epicentre of growth, he said, noting co-operation strategies towards 2045 need an inclusive, comprehensive, and creative approach.
As part of the occasion, the Minister invited countries to attend an ASEAN forum on rapid and sustainable development with the people at the centre, which will be hosted by Vietnam.
The forum, also initiated by the nation, aims to create a platform for officials, experts, and scholars to exchange views and make policy recommendations regarding ASEAN development, connectivity, and co-operation.
FM Son affirmed Vietnamese support for Laos’s ASEAN Chairmanship, stating that the country will participate in and contribute to upcoming events like the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit in Melbourne in Australia and the 24th EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Belgium.
The official also proposed that ASEAN maintain its solidarity and consensus, whilst upholding its independence and self-reliance. The Minister and other delegates reiterated ASEAN’s common principled stance on the East Sea, calling on it to persistently support Myanmar.
ASEAN needs to maintain a balanced and objective approach, whilst also working to raise its position and voice on issues relating to peace, security, stability, and sustainable development in the region and beyond, he continued.
The participating ministers pledged to back and co-ordinate during the implementation of ASEAN priorities with the two central elements of “self-reliance” and “connectivity”.
They agreed with directions to accelerate the recovery and connection of economies, consenting to focus on sustainable and inclusive development, foster digital transformation, strengthen the capacity of the health system, protect the environment, respond to climate change, enhance culture and art co-operation, and promote the role and contributions of women and children.
The ministers expressed their wish to build an East Sea of peace, stability, co-operation, and prosperity, with commitments to the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards a substantive, effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
