Tokyo (VNA) - Secretary General of the ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC)Masataka Fujita has appreciated continued efforts by the Vietnamese Governmentin holding the good ASEAN chairmanship in 2020, especially in the context ofthe COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam has been successful in managing and organising allthe meetings, he affirmed in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agencycorrespondents in Tokyo, on the occasion of the 37th ASEAN Summitand related meetings from November 12-15.

This year is quite special in the sense that all the countries have beensuffering from the pandemic. But, as a successful country in terms ofcontrolling the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam can take the lead in not onlysurviving but also becoming stronger, he stated.

The official emphasised the importance of actions taken bythe Vietnam Government to boost post-pandemic economic recovery, adding thatthis is a “good opportunity for Vietnam to show how to get stronger”.

To cope with the uncertain future caused by the pandemic,Fujita highlighted the need to make economies and supply chains much strongerand more resilient.

Attention should be paid to risk management to stay ready inresponse to any financial crisis, natural disaster or pandemic, he stated.

According to him, not only ASEAN but also Japan have learnedhow slow they are in this transformation. Most of the countries are going downand experiencing negative growth, by the way, only Vietnam has positive growththis year.

“When you look at the industrial structure, not all theindustries are down. In fact, IT-related areas are still growing. In the US andother countries where stock prices are rising, actually, all the rising stockscame from IT-related companies. Therefore, digitalisation is quite important,and this time, both ASEAN and Japan learned how slow we are. In this particulararea, I think ASEAN and Japan can cooperate further,” said Fujita.

He also suggested both sides strengthen cooperation in thehealthcare sector.

The official said that all the countries are suffering fromthe pandemic crisis, and there are some countries to do relaxation ininvestment in the healthcare sector and try to establish companies producingmasks or personal protective gears as well, adding the industries which areresistant to such a crisis should be promoted further./.