Over the past more than five decades, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has grown into a high-profile organisation in the region and the world with more and more deepened cooperation obtaining enormous achievements.

ASEAN is proceeding with the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. Some remarkable achievements have been made. However, ASEAN still faces a lot of challenges such as connectivity, efficacy of the bloc’s operation and powers’ incitement. 2019 ASEAN took the theme “Advancing partnership for sustainability”. Therefore, the bloc has place focus on sustainability in the three pillars of the Community. Over the last 52 years since its establishment, ASEAN has made effective contributions to dialogues and cooperation for peace, stability and prosperity in the region in particular and Asia – Pacify as a whole. For Vietnam, since its admission to ASEAN in 1995, the nation has participated adequately and actively in the regional bloc’s activities across the fields as well as made close collaboration with its member nations in implementing commitments in terms of trade, services and investment, looking to building ASEAN Economic Community by 2025. Ensuring ASEAN identity and its central role are the two significant missions of the Community, requiring the active participation of all member states. Vietnam will officially take over ASEAN Chair in 2020. This not only manifests Vietnam’s responsibility but also provides a chance for the country to continue contributing effectively to the Community.-VNA