Diplomat: Vietnam – active, responsible member of ASEAN
Vietnam’s contributions to the 31st ASEAN Summit and related summits manifested its maturity in integration competence and its increasingly important role in the region, affirmed Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.
Answering reporters’ queries related to the summits, which took place in Manila, the Philippines, from November 12-14, Dung said that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc led a Vietnamese delegation to attend the summits, contributing to the cooperation between ASEAN and its partners and the summits’ success.
The PM attended more than 30 bilateral and multilateral activities. At the 31st ASEAN Summit, he delivered a speech during which he highlighted three areas of ASEAN cooperation, namely renewing the ASEAN Community’s character, enhancing intra-bloc economic connectivity and promoting the central role of ASEAN.
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In other summits, the Vietnamese leader made proposals to deepen ASEAN cooperation as well as collaboration between ASEAN and its partners. He also shared Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue, the nuclear matter in the Korean Peninsula and violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
On this occasion, PM Phuc also held bilateral meetings with leaders of several countries and international organisations, Dung said.
According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, the 31st ASEAN Summit and related summits took place right after the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week in Vietnam’s central Da Nang city, showing Vietnam’s active role in any position and at any forum.
Dung also said that a total of 11 summits were held in Manila, including the 31st ASEAN Summit and ASEAN’s summits with partners, together with a gala celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of ASEAN and meetings between leaders and enterprises.
On the occasion, leaders signed the ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, and adopted or took note of 55 documents, including 23 documents of ASEAN and 32 documents between ASEAN and its partners, he noted, adding that all of these deals relate to people’s interests directly or indirectly, from social issues on labourers’ rights, job opportunities, gender equality, health care, and poverty reduction to trade facilitation.
The summits showed ASEAN member states’ efforts to reach a common voice as well as partners’ backing for the development of the ASEAN Community and the central role of ASEAN in the region, Dung stressed.
