Vietnam’s contributions to 29- year journey of joining ASEAN

This affirmation was made by Vietnamese Ambassador to ASEAN Ton Thi Ngoc Huong in a recent interview given to a VOV correspondent in Jakarta, Indonesia, ahead of the 29th anniversary of Vietnam joining ASEAN back in July 28, 1995.

On July 28, 1995, the nation became an official member of the bloc and during the journey of accompanying ASEAN for nearly 30 years, the country has remained determined to contribute in a proactive, positive, and responsible spirit.

Ambassador Huong emphasized three important milestones in the process of Vietnamese engagement in ASEAN, namely being the Chair of the ASEAN Standing Committee for the 2000 to 2001 term. After the ASEAN Charter was issued, the country served as ASEAN Chair again in 2010 and 2020.

Vietnam's ASEAN Chair terms marked some of its most important and significant contributions to the regional grouping, especially in 2020 when the region experienced an extremely great challenge, namely the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, causing very profound and serious consequences globally.

Furthermore, the nation also contributed to shaping important future development directions of the bloc, such as building and approving the Hanoi Action Plan in 1998 with ASEAN to respond to the 1997 to 1998 financial and economic crisis.

It also contributed to building and realizing the ASEAN Vision 2020, the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, the ASEAN Charter, as well as successfully assuming the role of co-ordinating ties between ASEAN and important partners such as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), the United States, and Russia.

Vietnamese contributions have been acknowledged by ASEAN member states and partners, thereby helping to reinforce solidarity, unity, centrality, and the self-reliance of ASEAN in the face of a rapidly evolving and complex regional and international environment.

The Vietnamese diplomat highlighted the nation’s consistent commitment to ASEAN as being among the top countries in terms of implementing commitments on economic integration in the regional bloc. Indeed, the Vietnamese side initiated the idea of ​​forming the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and paid great attention to building a harmonious, cohesive, unique, and people-focused ASEAN Community.

At the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM-57) in Vientiane, Laos, Vietnam officially transferred the role of organising ASEAN-RoK relations and took over the role of co-ordinating ties between ASEAN and two new partners, namely New Zealand and the UK.

According to the Ambassador, this is also a new practice in ASEAN, because for the first time the nation will take on the role of co-ordinating with two partners at the same time in one period.

The country is closely working alongside with partners as well as the current co-ordinating country, Brunei, to carry out the smooth and effective transfer of the role, as well as devising a plan to promote relations between ASEAN and two partners, New Zealand and the UK, for the 2024 to 2027 period.