ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi (Photo: VNA) Jakarta (VNA) - ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi has spoken highlyof Vietnam’s capacity in its role as ASEAN Chair.
In an interview granted recentlyto the Vietnam News Agency in Jakarta on June 25, Lim said the theme “Cohesive andResponsive ASEAN” adopted for its ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020 suits current realities,adding that the 36th ASEAN Summit is a concrete demonstration of ASEAN’ssolidarity and leadership, manifested in robust regional cooperation. Such solidarityis needed in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leaders have openly declaredtheir shared commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in addressing publichealth emergencies, enhancing social safety nets, and preserving the regional supplychain, he said.
According to the ASEAN chief, ASEAN needs to continue workingtogether to articulate a collective response to COVID-19 to complement and amplifynational and local responses, he said. The 36th ASEAN Summit, therefore, serves asan opportunity for the bloc to further enhance its cohesiveness and responsiveness.
He said the summit reaffirmsthe need for a regional recovery plan, which ASEAN continues to focus on followingthe ASEAN Special Summits on COVID-19 in April. The plan will involve collaboration among ASEAN member states’ government agencies, industries, private sector, andother relevant stakeholders.
“We expect a greater collaborative effort in informationand knowledge sharing, in medical development, and in domestic policies relatingto social and health security,” he said.
“Managing public health risks and reviving economies untilan effective vaccine treatment is found are high on this summit’s agenda. Otherhighlights will be leaders’ interfaces with core stakeholders of the ASEAN Community,for example Youth, Business Community, and Parliamentarians, all of whom can contributesignificantly to regional integration efforts.”
He said that, from theoutset, ASEAN member states have promptly responded to COVID-19 nationally, regionally,and globally. The quick response and information sharing among ASEAN health officials,and the robust collaboration between ASEAN and external partners, for example withASEAN Plus Three, the EU, and the US, have also proven critical during the outbreak.
On the whole, ASEAN has come together and responded quicklyto the pandemic, through the two special summits as well as the various measuresundertaken collectively and specifically by sectoral bodies. Moving forward, thekey task is for ASEAN to have a robust, holistic, and practical recovery frameworkto minimise the socio-economic effects of the pandemic.
He affirmed that in its capacity as ASEAN Chair, Vietnamhas demonstrated strong leadership in spearheading a collective regional responseto the pandemic. He expressed his appreciationof Vietnam’s contributions, in particular giving aid to some ASEAN member statesand also to partners, and congratulated the country on its effective fight againstthe pandemic.
“Vietnam has beenrecovering very well and done a lot of good things internally,” he said. “And nowit is in the recovery stage.”
Led by Vietnam, work is also underway to finalise the establishmentof a “COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund”, a regional reserve for medical supplies anda standard operating procedure on public health emergencies.
Vietnam has also kick-started discussions on ASEAN’s post-2025vision. This is critical for the bloc to attain greater cohesiveness and responsivenessin its regional integration journey, while adapting to the “new normal” and factoringthe key lessons learned into considerations, he added./.
