Vietnam active in Asean meetings: Deputy PM

The Deputy PM said after the meetings ended on Thursday that Vietnam was dedicated to its Asean commitments and to the establishment of the Asean Community, as well as increasing Asean linkages and narrowing development gaps among member states. 

He said Vietnam submitted proposals on bolstering co-operation within Asean and between the bloc and partner countries. The country also completed its tenure as the co-ordinator between Asean and the European Union (EU) in the 2012-2015 period.

Minh said Asean ministers were determined to establish the Asean Community by the end of this year.

He said that AMM 48 and related meetings were not only significant in terms of linkages within Asean, but also between the bloc and its partner countries.

He said the meetings discussed the following priority issues: Asean’s post-2015 development orientation; how to increase Asean’s central role after becoming a community; and how to enhance relations between the group’s member states and other countries. 

According to the Deputy PM, the establishment of the Asean Community at the end of this year marks the start of a new process. Asean ministers discussed visions for Asean’s development in the next 10 years, which are expected to be approved in the form of orientation outlines later this year.

The visions outline the importance of citizens being at the centre of the community – not only benefiting from the co-operation mechanism but also actively contributing to the development of the community. 

Ministers also underlined the need to enhance the central role played by Asean, saying that it was necessary to have a common voice on all issues in order to promote unity and harmony. 

Minh said the different meetings between Asean foreign ministers and their partners, such as Asean+1 with South Korea, Canada and Japan; the 16th Asean+3 with China, South Korea and Japan; the 5th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting with China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India, New Zealand, Russia and the US; and the 22nd Asean Regional Forum, which provided plans and visions for the intensification of relations between the bloc and individual countries or groups of countries.

He added that the meetings also involved the discussion of peace, security and development in the region, including enhancing co-operation on terrorism and preventing extremism. 

The Deputy PM said ministers expressed concern over developments in the East Sea, saying they impacted on security, peace and stability in the region and beyond. They said that the situation in the East Sea had been further complicated recently, causing reasons for concern. 

In the AMM 48’s joint communique, the ministers voiced serious concern over the recent and ongoing developments in the East Sea (also known as the South China Sea). 

They also emphasised the need for all parties to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), while expressing their determination to accelerate the negotiation of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).