ASEAN has always placed importance on improving relations with itspartners, to gain their support for the common goals of peace, securityand sustainable development, along with exerting efforts to boostinternal cooperation and connectivity and build its own community.
PhamQuang Vinh, Assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister made thisaffirmation in an article featuring the prioritised goals of the groupin 2010, when Vietnam held the position of ASEAN Chair.
Operatingunder the theme of, “Toward an ASEAN Community: from vision to action”,ASEAN undertook a hectic round of external activities in 2010, with 14high-level meetings and eight ASEAN + 1 summits held in October alone.
Throughthese meetings, ASEAN’s cooperation with its partners developedsignificantly and was broadened and deepened in all spheres and atvarious cooperative frameworks, Vinh said.
“ASEAN’s relationswith each partner have been elevated to a new height and morepractically, bring a strategic partnership or comprehensive ties,” Vinhnoted.
He emphasised that the group’s cooperation with itspartners at such forums as ASEAN+3 and East Asia Summit (EAS) continuedto grow in a dynamic and more practical manner, helping promote dialogueand mutual cooperation, especially in dealing effectively withchallenges, including economically sustainable development and recovery,climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, and trans-national crime.
TheASEAN+3 cooperation has thrived in 22 areas under nearly 60 differentmechanisms, with the most noteworthy being a multilateral agreement onthe 120 billion USD Chiang Mai initiative on currency convertibility, tosupport efforts to respond to threats of a regional financial crisis,the Vietnamese diplomat said.
Vinh noted that ASEAN and itspartners had agreed to carry out feasibility studies on initiativesrelating to the East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA) and the ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA) to move towards building afree trade area (FTA) in East Asia .
Regarding the consolidationof a peaceful, secure and stable environment in the region, theVietnamese official highlighted ASEAN’s active use of tools andcooperative mechanisms, including the ASEAN Treaty for Amity andCooperation (TAC), the Southeast Asian Non-nuclear Weapon Free Zone(SEANWFZ), the Declaration on Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC),and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), to boost dialogue and strengthentrust.
He drew attention to Canada and Turkey joining TACduring the year and ASEAN’s decision to broaden EAS to include Russiaand the US from 2011.
ASEAN has increasingly promoted itsrole and made important and responsible contributions to theinternational community’s common affairs, especially at differentregional and international forums like G20, APEC, ASEM, the UN, and theworld conference on climate change, and has gained support andcollaboration from its partners for its sub-regional cooperativeprogrammes, particularly in the Sub-Mekong region, Vinh wrote.
Highlightingthe group’s prominent and active role in implementing common goals,dealing with challenges and forming a future regional architecture, Vinhalso underscored the role of Vietnam in the capacity as ASEAN Chairin 2010.
He highlighted Vietnam ’s demonstration of a “pro-active, enthusiastic and responsible” spirit in managing ASEAN’s operation.
Sincethe beginning of the year, Vietnam had defined the group’s prioritisedgoals, namely speeding up the roadmap of building the ASEAN Communityand carrying out the ASEAN Charter, boosting ASEAN’s ties with partners,promoting cooperation for peace, security, and sustainable developmentto deal effectively with global challenges, and enhancing internal unityand heightening the group’s prestige to ensure its central role in theregion. These goals received a high degree of consensus from othermember countries in the group.
Concluding his article, Vinhquoted Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem assaying, “The successful ASEAN Chair role in 2010 marked a new andsignificant development step for Vietnam in its regional andinternational integration course”.
“ Vietnam ’s efforts andactive contributions to ASEAN’s development and strength have once againasserted the country’s consistent policy of treasuring ASEAN inmultilateral and bilateral cooperation and demonstrated its efforts towork to its utmost for a strong and united ASEAN with increasingly closeconnectivity.”/.
PhamQuang Vinh, Assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister made thisaffirmation in an article featuring the prioritised goals of the groupin 2010, when Vietnam held the position of ASEAN Chair.
Operatingunder the theme of, “Toward an ASEAN Community: from vision to action”,ASEAN undertook a hectic round of external activities in 2010, with 14high-level meetings and eight ASEAN + 1 summits held in October alone.
Throughthese meetings, ASEAN’s cooperation with its partners developedsignificantly and was broadened and deepened in all spheres and atvarious cooperative frameworks, Vinh said.
“ASEAN’s relationswith each partner have been elevated to a new height and morepractically, bring a strategic partnership or comprehensive ties,” Vinhnoted.
He emphasised that the group’s cooperation with itspartners at such forums as ASEAN+3 and East Asia Summit (EAS) continuedto grow in a dynamic and more practical manner, helping promote dialogueand mutual cooperation, especially in dealing effectively withchallenges, including economically sustainable development and recovery,climate change, natural disasters, epidemics, and trans-national crime.
TheASEAN+3 cooperation has thrived in 22 areas under nearly 60 differentmechanisms, with the most noteworthy being a multilateral agreement onthe 120 billion USD Chiang Mai initiative on currency convertibility, tosupport efforts to respond to threats of a regional financial crisis,the Vietnamese diplomat said.
Vinh noted that ASEAN and itspartners had agreed to carry out feasibility studies on initiativesrelating to the East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA) and the ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA) to move towards building afree trade area (FTA) in East Asia .
Regarding the consolidationof a peaceful, secure and stable environment in the region, theVietnamese official highlighted ASEAN’s active use of tools andcooperative mechanisms, including the ASEAN Treaty for Amity andCooperation (TAC), the Southeast Asian Non-nuclear Weapon Free Zone(SEANWFZ), the Declaration on Conduct of Parties on the East Sea (DOC),and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), to boost dialogue and strengthentrust.
He drew attention to Canada and Turkey joining TACduring the year and ASEAN’s decision to broaden EAS to include Russiaand the US from 2011.
ASEAN has increasingly promoted itsrole and made important and responsible contributions to theinternational community’s common affairs, especially at differentregional and international forums like G20, APEC, ASEM, the UN, and theworld conference on climate change, and has gained support andcollaboration from its partners for its sub-regional cooperativeprogrammes, particularly in the Sub-Mekong region, Vinh wrote.
Highlightingthe group’s prominent and active role in implementing common goals,dealing with challenges and forming a future regional architecture, Vinhalso underscored the role of Vietnam in the capacity as ASEAN Chairin 2010.
He highlighted Vietnam ’s demonstration of a “pro-active, enthusiastic and responsible” spirit in managing ASEAN’s operation.
Sincethe beginning of the year, Vietnam had defined the group’s prioritisedgoals, namely speeding up the roadmap of building the ASEAN Communityand carrying out the ASEAN Charter, boosting ASEAN’s ties with partners,promoting cooperation for peace, security, and sustainable developmentto deal effectively with global challenges, and enhancing internal unityand heightening the group’s prestige to ensure its central role in theregion. These goals received a high degree of consensus from othermember countries in the group.
Concluding his article, Vinhquoted Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem assaying, “The successful ASEAN Chair role in 2010 marked a new andsignificant development step for Vietnam in its regional andinternational integration course”.
“ Vietnam ’s efforts andactive contributions to ASEAN’s development and strength have once againasserted the country’s consistent policy of treasuring ASEAN inmultilateral and bilateral cooperation and demonstrated its efforts towork to its utmost for a strong and united ASEAN with increasingly closeconnectivity.”/.
