Addressing the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hoang said that over the past 25 years Vietnam has become an active and responsible member of the bloc and played a crucial role in setting development goals and orientations and shaping major policies.

In particular, it successfully fulfilled its role as ASEAN Chair three times, contributing to improving its role and stature in the region and the world.

The Vietnamese Party and State are currently paying attention to developing friendships with countries and territories worldwide, especially ASEAN member states, she said, adding that ASEAN countries have traditional and cooperative ties with Vietnam and Dong Nai in particular, with the common goal of establishing an area of peace, freedom, and neutrality in Southeast Asia.

Six regional countries are now investing in Dong Nai - Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia - with 150 projects and investment of over 5.32 billion USD. Companies in the province export over 50 types of goods to the bloc.

Its exports to ASEAN have risen steadily over the years, reaching nearly 1.57 billion USD in 2016, over 1.81 billion USD in 2018, and some 2.1 billion USD in 2019.

In particular, the province has set up Vietnam - Laos, Vietnam - Cambodia, and Vietnam - Thailand friendship associations, which have become a bridge fostering friendships with individuals from those countries and encouraging the involvement of citizens and organisations from all walks of life in external activities via people-to-people exchanges, contributing to local socio-economic development.

The occasion also saw the debut of a mobilisation committee for the establishment of a Vietnam - ASEAN Friendship Association in Dong Nai./.

Source: en.vietnamplus.vn/vietnams-25-years-in-asean-marked-in-dong-nai/193408.vnp