ASEM important to Vietnam’s multilateral diplomacy: ambassador

The ASEM High-level Policy Dialogue on "ASEM at 25: Strengthening Asia-Europe Partnership in a Transforming World", held both virtually and in person on June 22 (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The past25 years is a course of history with breakthroughs in international relationsof both Asia and Europe, and one of the most noteworthy achievements is theAsia - Europe Meeting (ASEM).

The remark was made byAmbassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga, Vice Chairwoman of the National Committee forPacific Economic Cooperation and Senior Advisor to the Vietnamese Ministry ofForeign Affairs, while talking to the press on the occasion of ASEM’s 25th founding anniversary.

Regarding ASEM’s significanceto Vietnam and the country’s contributions to this multilateral forum as afounding member, she said the establishment of ASEM was a turning point thatchanged the nature of Asia - Europe relations and the equality in internationalrelations.

ASEM has helped the twocontinents enhance their voice and coordination, effectively deal with issuesin international ties, and substantially contribute to the enhancement ofmutual understanding, cooperation, and equality to achieve common targets anddevelopment.

This forum was founded notonly to share and strengthen mutual understanding but also to take concreteactions, Nga noted.

Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga (Photo: VNA)

She went on to say that viaASEM, Vietnam has made use of support to promote negotiations on its entry intothe World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its integration into the global economy.

The ambassador affirmed thehighly important role of ASEM and its members as the COVID-19 pandemic is remainingcomplicated in both continents.

Apart from the currentcooperation priority of continuing responding to COVID-19, ASEM should alsoconsider a longer-term issue, namely the post-pandemic comprehensivesocio-economic recovery, she held.

ASEM is an important forumfor Vietnam in terms of strategy, economy, politics, security, development, andsociety, Nga said, adding that the ASEM High-level Policy Dialogue on "ASEM at 25: Strengthening Asia-EuropePartnership in a Transforming World", held on June 22, showed thatthe theme Vietnam chose for the event attracted the attention of other members.

The diplomat said thedialogue also demonstrated the clear-sightedness of the foreign policy statedin the resolution of the 13th National Party Congress.

What have been achieved overthe past 25 years have shown that ASEM continues to play a crucial role duringthe implementation of Vietnam’s multilateral diplomacy, Nga added./.

VNA