Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for joint effortsfrom business communities in ASEAN member nations to build a resilient ASEAN witha spirit of cohesion and responsiveness towards effectively controlling the COVID-19 pandemicand promoting post-pandemic economic recovery.

Addressing the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ASEAN BIS) 2020 held online onNovember 13, PM Phuc emphasised that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedentedchallenge for people and economies worldwide.

It has already triggered an economic downturn, impeding global trade, collapsingsupply chains, hindering the travel of people, and forcing a huge number of businessesto shut down, he said.

In its five decades, ASEAN has becomea dynamic and innovative economic community with a population of more than 630 millionpeople and total GDP of over 3.1 trillion USD, becoming the 5th largesteconomy in the world, he said.

The PM attributed the achievements tothe contributions of business communities in the region, from large enterprisesto micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, young enterprises, start-ups, andwomen-owned enterprises.

Along with effective regional cooperationmechanisms such as the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC) and the East Asia Business Council (EABC), businesses in the region have cooperatedclosely to make important and practical recommendations with innovative ideas toleaders of ASEAN and ASEAN 3.

As Chair of ASEAN in 2020, Vietnam hasintroduced many initiatives and worked closely with other members and partners tocontrol COVID-19 and implement a master recovery plan that focuses on facilitatingthe movement of experts, managers, and investors, ensuring the operations of supplyand distribution chains, promoting production recovery, creating jobs, and removingany difficulties facing businesses, the PM stressed.

According to an International MonetaryFund (IMF) forecast released in October, Vietnam is in fair shape and likely topost growth of 2-3 percent for the year as a whole, he said, noting that thecountry is also working towards attracting more regional and global investors.

It commits to cooperating with otherASEAN member countries and the bloc’s partners to continue offering support programmesto businesses in the region, especially in the fields of digital transformationand the environment, society and corporate governance (ESG), and fullytap into new opportunities from the relocation of supply chains and global investmentflows towards ASEAN, he affirmed.

Addressing the summit, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry(VCCI) Vu Tien Loc suggested governments focus on measures to support micro, small,and medium-sized enterprises as well as young entrepreneurs, women-owned firms,and start-ups, which have been generating livelihoods for hundreds of millions ofpeople in the region while being most-affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Urgent attention should be paid to supporting fields with great development potentialbut experiencing temporary difficulties, such as aviation, tourism, hotels, andrestaurants, which could see strong development post-pandemic, Loc said.

He expressed the wish of the business community that the entire ASEAN region worktogether to promote integration, strengthen ASEAN connectivity, and promote developmentdialogue, even in the context of a pandemic, so that the bloc can be at the heartof the regional economy.

VCCI and ASEAN BAC recentlyintroduced an initiative to set up the ASEAN Entrepreneurship Network, to promotelinks in start-up communities in the region, Loc said, while expressing his hopethat ASEAN leaders, business communities, and dialogue partners of the bloc willsupport and promote the move.

Kanni Widnaraja, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and Pacific, spokehighly of Vietnam’s role as ASEAN Chair, adding that ASEAN BIS needs to introduce investmentpolicies that allow each country to overcome the consequences of the pandemic andrecover in its own way./.