Participants at the 14th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Madrid, Spain, on December 15-16, 2019 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Fifty-three partners of theAsia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) have committed to working together to contain andprevent the spreading of COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement released on September 7, they recognised thatcombating the COVID-19 pandemic will require concerted internationalcooperation, effective actions by multilateral organisations, and support formultilateralism by ASEM partners, based on UN principles and values.
The partners reaffirmedtheircommitment to working together and sharing experiences, best practices andinformation in a free, responsible, transparent and timely manner in order todecisively and effectively control the spread of the pandemic.
They supported the UnitedNations’ call for shared responsibility, global solidarity and strengthenedmultilateral cooperation in response to the multidimensional impacts ofCOVID-19, especially the importance of the World Health Organisation (WHO) incoordinating the health response to the pandemic.
“We reaffirm our commitment to maintain the momentum of ASEMto strengthen multilateralism for socio-economic resilience. The virus will notweaken our resolve to stand together in solidarity and our mutual supportduring this difficult time”, read the statement.
The ASEM statementon COVID-19 was compiled with coordination of the Foreign Ministers of Cambodiaas host nation of the 13th ASEM Summit, the EU and Germany as regionalcoordinators of the European group, Singapore as the regional coordinator ofthe ASEAN group, and Russia as the regional coordinator of the Northeast andSouth Asia group.
Due to thecomplicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 13th ASEMSummit, which is slated for November 16-17 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, has beenpostponed to mid-2021.
ASEM was establishedin 1996 as a dialogue and cooperation forum between Europe and Asia. Itcomprises 27 EU member countries, Norway, Switzerland, and 10 ASEAN membercountries, along with China, Russia, Japan, Australia.
ASEM partners makeup 65 percent of the global economy, 60 percent of the world population, 55percent of the world trade, and 75 percent of the global tourism revenue./.
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