Speakingat the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen ThienNhan said Vietnam attaches special importance to the role of science andtechnology, considering it a breakthrough that decides the success ofthe national modernisation process in the next decade.
Scienceand technology is one of ASEAN’s important cooperation fields and adecisive factor that creates an economic competitive advantage, ensuresthe bloc’s sustainable development and raise the region’s capability incoping with climate change, he said.
At the meeting, delegates discussed issues to further boost scientific and technological cooperation among ASEAN nations.
Theyalso reviewed the results of scientific and technological cooperationprogrammes among ASEAN nations since the 6th Informal ASEAN MinisterialMeeting on Science and Technology held in Krabi, Thailand last Decemberand the ASEAN Plan of Action on Science and Technology for the 2012-2017period with the implementation of six ASEAN development priorityprogrammes that have been adopted for implementation until 2015.
Theprogrammes include food security, an early warning system for naturaldisasters, biofuels, the application and development of open sourcesoftware, climate change from now to 2015, and the implementation ofKrabi initiative: Science, Technology and Innovation for a competitive,sustainable and inclusive ASEAN.
For his part, Minister ofScience and Technology Nguyen Quan said uneven scientific andtechnological development in ASEAN members is the biggest difficulty forthe bloc’s cooperation in the field.
However, he added, ASEANmembers share a common will, boast cooperative and friendly ties and seeconsensus among their top leaders.
He said he believes in ASEAN’s effective coordination in implementing six ASEAN development priority programmes.
Earlier,the 62nd meeting of ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology (COST-62)and a consultative meeting on ASEAN-New Zealand scientific andtechnological cooperation took place from Nov. 23-25./.