The proposal was made on January 14 at the 10th ASEAN+3 summit, involving leaders of ASEAN member countries, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) held on the sidelines of the 12th ASEAN Summit.

The Vietnamese government leader said the potential cooperation between ASEAN and its dialogue countries remains extensive, urging all parties to actively explore possibilities of bolstering their partnerships.

PM Dung also put forward other vital recommendations and incentives aimed at boosting the cooperative ties between ASEAN and its dialogue countries in various fields, including economy and commerce, and transnational issues like bird flu epidemic, natural disaster control, as well as in energy and security.

The PM highlighted peace and sustainability as key factors leading to the development of each country as well as the entire region. He spoke highly of the active participation of dialogue countries and their support for practical steps made by ASEAN member countries towards this goal.

At the summit, leaders acknowledged the important role of the ASEAN+3 cooperation process, saying its accomplishments over the past nine months in various spheres would pave the way for further promoting cooperation in the region.

They affirmed that the next ASEAN+3 Summit slated for late 2007 would issue the second joint statement on East Asian cooperation with strategic and comprehensive orientations for the ASEAN+3 process and East Asian cooperation in the coming years, towards the long-term goal of building an East Asian community.

VNA