The meeting of ministries and sectors to review ASEAN cooperation and Vietnam’s participation on January 9 (Photo: VNA) Applauding their active engagement inand contributions to ASEAN cooperation in 2022, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son saidamid the complex international and regional situation and lingering impacts ofmany issues, ministries and sectors should make thorough plans for 2023. Inparticular, they should seek opportunities and tap into new potential toconcurrently contribute to ASEAN cooperation and guarantee national intereststo serve national development.
Close coordination among ministriesand sectors is one of the decisive factors of the success and effectiveness ofVietnam’s engagement in ASEAN’s activities, he underlined.
Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Vietsaid 2022 was a year full of both internal and external challenges for ASEAN. However,as the theme of the bloc for last year went - “ASEAN A.C.T.: Addressing Challenges Together”, ASEAN has surmounted difficulties bybringing into play solidarity, mutual assistance, sense of responsibility, andcommon voice in regional and global issues.
The region recorded a growth rate ofover 5%. The building of the ASEAN Community also recorded progress in allaspects, from defence, economy, trade, finance, transport to labour, education,health care, sports, culture, information, and science - technology. In particular,the launch of the drafting of the ASEAN Community’s Post-2025 Vision right inthe beginning of 2022 reflected member countries’ attention to anddetermination to consolidate an increasingly self-reliant and strong community.
The association has also seen greatstrides in external relations, including the establishment of comprehensivestrategic partnerships with the US and India and the agreement in principle onthe upgrade of ties with Canada, Viet went on.
At the meeting, participants said thatlast year, ministries and sectors of Vietnam actively and closely cooperatedwith Chair Cambodia and other ASEAN countries via all channels, thuscontributing to the bloc’s common success and promoting many issues of Vietnam’sconcern, including comprehensive recovery, inclusive development, sub-regionalcooperation, digital economy, circular economy, energy transition, foodsecurity, and information security. They also proposed a number of practical initiativeshighly valued by other countries.
Besides, they noted, Vietnamsuccessfully hosted and chaired many important activities to help resume thebloc’s cooperation such as the 23nd ASEAN Chiefs of Army Multilateral Meeting,the ASEAN Law Forum 2022, the ASEAN Conference on Civil Service Matters, andthe ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting.
At the meeting, officials agreed tocontinue Vietnam’s active and responsible participation to help carry out ASEAN’spriorities and focuses in 2023, maintain solidarity and bring into play theassociation’s centrality, promote the implementation of ASEAN blueprints onthree pillars, build the Community’s Post-2025 Vision, and effectively promoteissues of Vietnam’s attention.
They also proposed reforming the coordinationmechanism among ministries and sectors so as to better the quality andeffectiveness of Vietnam’s participation in ASEAN./.
VNA
