The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN Development Programme (UNDP)jointly opened a seminar on orientations for building the ASEANCommunity beyond 2015 in Hanoi on December 3.
Attending the event are ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh and UNDPCountry Director in Vietnam Louise Chamberlain, among others.
In his opening remark, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinhreviewed the operations of ASEAN over the past 46 years, saying that thegrouping has seen significant developments from a five-memberassociation with loose cooperation to an organisation comprising 10countries in Southeast Asia .
In particular, theASEAN Charter has created a legal foundation and an institutionalmechanism for the association to enhance regional links, with itsimmediate goal of forming the ASEAN Community based on three pillars by2015, he said.
According to Vinh, the bloc hasproved its increasingly active and proactive role in handling theregion’s important and strategic issues while being flexible, dynamicand quick in adapting to fluctuations.
Although itgathers small- and medium-sized countries, ASEAN is still attractive tomany important partners in the region and the world as well, he said.
It has established and promoted its core role in anevolving regional architecture in order to foster and maintain anenvironment of security, peace, stability and development in the region,he added.
However, the Deputy FM stressed thatASEAN is facing a lot of challenges such as differences in strategicpriorities and national capacity of member countries, territorialdisputes, conflicts among countries, as well as common securitychallenges in the region, both traditional and non-traditional ones,including the East Sea issue, the Korean Peninsula situation,climate change, natural disasters and epidemics.
Theincreasing intervention of major countries has created favourableconditions for ASEAN’s development but also posed many challenges intrust building and overcoming suspicions and narrow-mindedself-interests that may greatly impact on the solidarity and centralrole of ASEAN in the regional architecture.
Vinhsaid the vision beyond 2015 must ensure the continuation of the ASEANCommunity building roadmap. Therefore, the vision must deal with bothshort- and middle-term objectives and long-term ones, including majorgoals and ideals that ASEAN should target in the decades after 2015.
These goals will play an orientating role and serve as a driving force for ASEAN’s development, he noted.
UNDP Country Director Louise Chamberlain congratulated ASEAN on itssatisfactory progress in building the ASEAN Community based on the threepillars of politics-security, economics and socio-culture.
She spoke highly of Vietnam’s role at multilateral forums and hoped it will play a greater role in post-2015 agendas.
At the event, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stated that afterthe Community is formed, ASEAN will be part of the broader free marketof East Asia , including the ASEAN Community and its 10 member statesand six trade partners. This market will have a population of 3.3billion and account for one third of global GDP.
In such a context, ASEAN economies will see great opportunities to maintain growth and sustain development, he said.
He stressed that since it joined ASEAN, Vietnam has devoted manyinitiatives to the building of the ASEAN Community as well ascontributed to maintaining peace and stability in the region.
In the economic field, Vietnam has implemented, at the highestrate, measures set in the ASEAN Community building roadmap, he said,adding that it is one of the countries with the greatest contributionsto the grouping’s integration towards building the community.
During the two-day seminar, participants are scheduled to discuss theASEAN Community building process and major orientations beyond 2015, andASEAN Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural Communities.-VNA
Attending the event are ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh and UNDPCountry Director in Vietnam Louise Chamberlain, among others.
In his opening remark, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinhreviewed the operations of ASEAN over the past 46 years, saying that thegrouping has seen significant developments from a five-memberassociation with loose cooperation to an organisation comprising 10countries in Southeast Asia .
In particular, theASEAN Charter has created a legal foundation and an institutionalmechanism for the association to enhance regional links, with itsimmediate goal of forming the ASEAN Community based on three pillars by2015, he said.
According to Vinh, the bloc hasproved its increasingly active and proactive role in handling theregion’s important and strategic issues while being flexible, dynamicand quick in adapting to fluctuations.
Although itgathers small- and medium-sized countries, ASEAN is still attractive tomany important partners in the region and the world as well, he said.
It has established and promoted its core role in anevolving regional architecture in order to foster and maintain anenvironment of security, peace, stability and development in the region,he added.
However, the Deputy FM stressed thatASEAN is facing a lot of challenges such as differences in strategicpriorities and national capacity of member countries, territorialdisputes, conflicts among countries, as well as common securitychallenges in the region, both traditional and non-traditional ones,including the East Sea issue, the Korean Peninsula situation,climate change, natural disasters and epidemics.
Theincreasing intervention of major countries has created favourableconditions for ASEAN’s development but also posed many challenges intrust building and overcoming suspicions and narrow-mindedself-interests that may greatly impact on the solidarity and centralrole of ASEAN in the regional architecture.
Vinhsaid the vision beyond 2015 must ensure the continuation of the ASEANCommunity building roadmap. Therefore, the vision must deal with bothshort- and middle-term objectives and long-term ones, including majorgoals and ideals that ASEAN should target in the decades after 2015.
These goals will play an orientating role and serve as a driving force for ASEAN’s development, he noted.
UNDP Country Director Louise Chamberlain congratulated ASEAN on itssatisfactory progress in building the ASEAN Community based on the threepillars of politics-security, economics and socio-culture.
She spoke highly of Vietnam’s role at multilateral forums and hoped it will play a greater role in post-2015 agendas.
At the event, ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh stated that afterthe Community is formed, ASEAN will be part of the broader free marketof East Asia , including the ASEAN Community and its 10 member statesand six trade partners. This market will have a population of 3.3billion and account for one third of global GDP.
In such a context, ASEAN economies will see great opportunities to maintain growth and sustain development, he said.
He stressed that since it joined ASEAN, Vietnam has devoted manyinitiatives to the building of the ASEAN Community as well ascontributed to maintaining peace and stability in the region.
In the economic field, Vietnam has implemented, at the highestrate, measures set in the ASEAN Community building roadmap, he said,adding that it is one of the countries with the greatest contributionsto the grouping’s integration towards building the community.
During the two-day seminar, participants are scheduled to discuss theASEAN Community building process and major orientations beyond 2015, andASEAN Political-Security, Economic and Socio-Cultural Communities.-VNA
