The profound imprints of Viet Nam in ASEAN
Whether as the ASEAN Chair 2020 or as a member, Viet Nam is always active, responsible and proactive in ASEAN.
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| Viet Nam assumed sucessfully the role of ASEAN Chair 2020. (Source: baoquocte.vn) |
Extensive contributions
Speaking at a press briefing, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc stated that ASEAN is always put at the top priority of Viet Nam's foreign policy. Viet Nam has left its profound imprints on the process of ASEAN development during the last 50 years.
Over the past 26 years, since being an ASEAN member (from July 28, 1995), Viet Nam has made very important contributions to ASEAN.
Firstly, as a middle power country in the region, with the third-largest population and fourth-largest area in Southeast Asia, Viet Nam's participation in ASEAN has helped the organization grow in terms of potential and scope. Viet Nam’s participation also strengthened the organization, ended suspicions, divisions and confrontations, thus helping open a new period of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
Secondly, Viet Nam has actively contributed to building the orientation of ASEAN's development, making major decisions such as completing the ASEAN Charter, the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the related Master Plans, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI), etc.
Thirdly, Viet Nam makes an active and responsible contribution to the implementation of ASEAN's common decisions. Viet Nam has fully implemented all cooperation activities in the fields of politics - security, culture - society and economy and successfully hosted all the related events according to its membership obligations.
Fourthly, Viet Nam has contributed to the formation, consolidation and development of institutions which were established and led by ASEAN such as the decision to expand the East Asia Summit (EAS) to admit the US and Russia, hosting the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+) for the first time, advocating for ASEAN to have representative at the G-20 Summit in Korea and Canada...
The pinnacle of victory
Viet Nam assumed the role of ASEAN Chair 2020 in a special year when the world was fighting against the "common enemy" named Covid-19. However, with the theme of “Cohesive and Responsive”, Viet Nam have had a very successful year of taking the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020 .
Speaking at the press conference on the results of Viet Nam's ASEAN Chairmanship 2020 in December 2020, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, then Prime Minister, affirmed: "The comprehensive and resounding success of the ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020 is a pinnacle of victory of the Party's multilateral foreign policy, giving us new vitality to continue the process of extensive and effective international integration confidently and proactively".
The Vietnamese leader emphasized that Viet Nam's initiatives and priorities have become the shared property of the region, and the method of organizing virtual conferences initiated by Viet Nam has become a good reference for other member countries. At the same time, the images of the ASEAN Community in general and Viet Nam in particular of peace, stability and development are widely promoted.
At the Conference, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, then Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, explained why Viet Nam has achieved great success as the ASEAN Chair in such a challenging year.
Accordingly, Viet Nam clarified the right topics, orientations, priorities, initiatives and tasks for the ASEAN Chair Year 2020, creating a solid premise for the following implementation steps.
The country proactively and responsively adapted to the "new normality", changing the method of organizing direct meetings and activities into virtual ones, even organizing online signing ceremonies of many important documents, notably the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Viet Nam also demonstrated its boldness and skillfulness in harmonizing different views and interests, especially among major countries, thereby bringing about fruitful conferences.
The dual role of Viet Nam as ASEAN Chair and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has been well done, with the integration of proposals and initiatives to promote gender equality and the role of women.
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| Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son emphasized that solidarity and unity are the foundations for ASEAN’s strength, especially in difficult times. (Source: baoquocte.vn) |
Raising the spirit of solidarity and unity
In 2021, especially when many countries in the region suffer from complicated waves of Covid-19 epidemics, being an active and responsible member of ASEAN, Viet Nam once again raises the spirit of solidarity, cooperating with other countries in fighting against and recovering from the pandemic.
At the same time, Viet Nam continues to participate in the process of building the ASEAN Community Vision after 2025 actively and responsibly.
The spirit of solidarity and unity in ASEAN has been touched upon by Vietnamese officials in many meetings.
At the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM-54) in August and most recently the AMM on October 4, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son stressed that solidarity and unity are the foundations for ASEAN’s strength, especially in difficult times.
That spirit has been expressed for more than half a century, especially in the current fight against Covid-19.
The Vietnamese Foreign Minister attaches great importance to vaccines among measures to fight against Covid-19. He also suggests ASEAN to take advantage of cooperation opportunities with partners, especially in procurement and technology transfer for vaccine production.
In the coming time, Viet Nam affirms to coordinate with other countries to promote the early establishment and operation of the ASEAN Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases (ACPHEED).
Regarding internal issues in ASEAN from the beginning of this year, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the ASEAN SOM Viet Nam said in an interview in August that Viet Nam made the proposal and convinced other ASEAN members to reach an agreement to send a Special Envoy to Myanmar, as well as reach a consensus for the UK to become a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN.
Related to the East Sea issue, in almost all ASEAN meetings, Viet Nam has reaffirmed the importance of promoting trust, exercising restraint and peacefully resolving disputes in accordance with international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
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