AsemconnectVietnam - On July 28, Vietnam marked the 25th anniversary of its accession to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh noted that by joining ASEAN, Vietnam had integrated into the region and the international community more confidently and proactively.

 For ASEAN, accepting Vietnam as its seventh member helped speed up the expansion of the bloc, eventually to all the 10 regional countries, thus consolidating peace and stability in a region that has special geo-political and geo-economic importance as a link between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh said Vietnam had made great strides forward, adopting policies of “more friends, less enemies”, diversification and multi-lateralization of international relations, and “shifting from confrontation to dialogue”.

Vietnam has gradually affirmed itself as an integral part of ASEAN and the Southeast Asian region, attached its development to that of ASEAN, and strove to shoulder the bloc’s work.

Joining ASEAN has helped Vietnam with its extensive and intensive international integration and pooling resources to serve development. The country has actively engaged in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). These have enabled it to push ahead with reforms, expand markets, increase exports, and attract investment and official development assistance (ODA), through which it has boosted economic growth for many years.

As ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam, together with other member states, defined the common theme for the year as “Cohesive and Responsive” in a bid to push ahead with bolstering the ASEAN Community and promoting the bloc’s role in a changing world.

Over the past seven months, as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh said, Vietnam’s efforts as the ASEAN Chair have demonstrated its cohesive and responsive spirit. With the solidarity and cohesion among its members, the bloc has ensured effective cooperation and connectivity targets for 2020, overcoming challenges to curb the Covid-19 pandemic and swiftly address its consequences, Minh said.

ASEAN policy has become an important part of Vietnam’s foreign policy. Vietnam will continue to propose initiatives and orientations in order to contribute to development of the bloc.

Hoa Quynh

Source: Ven,vn