Deputy Foreign Minister and General Secretary of the National ASEAN 2020 Committee Nguyen Quoc Dung (L) speaks at the press conference (Photo: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)Hanoi (VNA) - The upcoming 36th ASEAN Summit will focus on the developmentof the ASEAN Community in the immediate future and measures to address the socialand economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the region, Deputy Foreign Ministerand General Secretary of the National ASEAN 2020 Committee Nguyen Quoc Dung has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi on June 23 regarding the summit, he emphasisedVietnam’s preparations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the regionand the world.
To take place in Hanoi on June 26 in the form of a video conference, the summitwill be the first official summit hosted by Vietnam as ASEAN 2020 Chair, he added.
At the plenary session that will be chaired by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc,participants will hear reports and give opinions on cooperation among ASEAN membernations in the three pillars of the ASEAN Community - political security, economics, and socio-cultural issues.They are also expected to propose measures for stronger cooperation between ASEAN and itspartner countries in the time to come.
ASEAN leaders will also compare notes on regional and international issues of commonconcern, with a focus on how to effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic whilepromptly recovering socio-economic development in ASEAN member countries at thesame time.
According to the Deputy FM, ASEAN leaders will hold dialogues with representativesfrom the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) on coordination between the twoorganisations in building a people-oriented ASEAN Community.
Dialogues between ASEAN leaders and ASEAN youth and representatives from the ASEANBusiness Advisory Council (ASEAN-ABAC) will be arranged within the framework ofthe summit.
In particular, the ASEAN Leaders’ Special Session on Women’s Empowerment in theDigital Age - an initiative from Vietnam to affirm ASEAN leaders’ commitment topromoting gender equality and enhancing the role of women in building the ASEANCommunity - will also be organised as part of celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the approval of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action foradvancing women’s rights, Dung said.
ASEAN leaders will adopt an ASEAN Chair Statement on the outcomes of the 36th ASEAN Summit, a VisionStatement on ASEAN’s cohesion and proactive adaptation, and an ASEAN Declarationon human resources development for the changing world of work, he added./.
VNA
