Jakarta (VNA) - Vietnam’s admission to ASEANon this day 25 years ago opened up a new chapter in its cooperative relations withother Southeast Asian countries, Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of Vietnam’sPermanent Mission to ASEAN, said in an interview with Vietnam News Agencycorrespondents in Jakarta.

He also spoke of the entry of Laos and Myanmar twoyears later and Cambodia in 1999, which created a ten-member bloc of cooperation,peace, and development.

Joining ASEAN brought about a peaceful and stableenvironment for Vietnam and allowed it to develop. Vietnam also has the opportunityto engage economically within ASEAN and in cooperative programmes such asCommon Effective Preferential Tariffs (CEPT), APEC, and the WTO.

Within the framework of ASEAN, Vietnam has begun and expandedcooperation with partners such as the US, China, Russia, the Republic of Korea,Australia, India, and Canada.

It has also taken part in multilateral regional cooperationmechanisms such as ASEAN Plus 3, the East Asia Summit (EAS), and theAsia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), thus raising its role and position in the regionand beyond.

According to the ambassador, over the last 25 years,Vietnam has remained an active and responsible member of ASEAN. Immediatelyupon joining the bloc, it actively promoted the admission of Cambodia, Laos,and Myanmar to the bloc, contributing to the formation of an ASEAN that includesall the 10 Southeast Asian countries.

Vietnam has made significant contributions to definingdevelopment targets and orientations and building major policies such as the ASEANVision 2020, the ASEAN Charter, a roadmap to build the ASEAN Community 2015, andmany important agrements, including the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025,the ASEAN Connectivity Initative, the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP), andthe ASEAN Community Vision 2025.


An active member of the bloc, Vietnam has always beenamong the countries boasting the highest rate of implementation of the ASEANCommunity building master plan. It has also fulfilled its responsibilities as amember country, by undertaking important ASEAN activities such as successfullyorganising the sixth ASEAN Summit in Hanoi (1998) and fulfilling the role of theASEAN Chair in 2000 and 2010.

Inthe context of the COVID-19 outbreak, since the beginning of the year, Vietnamhas actively coordinated with other ASEAN countries in a timely manner todeploy initiatives and work with partners to control and prevent the spread ofthe pandemic, including the issuance of the ASEAN Chair Statement on COVID-19Response; the organisation of the ASEAN and ASEAN Plus 3 Special Summits onCOVID-19 Response; the establishment of the ASEAN Fund to cope with COVID-19; theco-organisation of online meetings with ASEAN partners such as China, the EU,the US, and international organisations; and the successful organisation of the36th ASEAN Summit.

Vietnam has also actively contributed to expandingrelations and promoting cooperation between ASEAN and partners, in addition tomaintaining solidarity, consensus, and common stance of ASEAN in regional andinternational issues and in the East Sea issue, as well as maintaining regionalpeace, security, stability and developent. One of the issues that drawcountries’ attention is that Vietnam and ASEAN are negotiating with China on a Codeof Conduct on the East Sea (COC) and ensuring its efficiency./.