The ASEAN flag (R) and the flags of the member nations (Photo: AP)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is ready to contributeand prove itself a prestigious, proactive, dynamic and responsible member ofthe ASEAN Community, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.
He made the statement in an article in Nhan dannewspaper on the threshold of the 30th ASEAN Summit, slated for April 28-29 inManila, the Philippines.
Looking back at ASEAN development from afive-member association set up on August 8, 1967 to the ASEAN Community, which wasofficially established on December 31, 2015, the Deputy FM underlined thatASEAN Community heralded a new stage of development for the bloc.
The formation of the community is hoped tobenefit not only the governments of the 10 member countries but also theregion’s people. The more than 630 million people in Southeast Asia will live inpeace, friendship and solidarity while receiving support to enjoy equaldevelopment.
Dung noted that the member economies, withcombined GDP of 2.48 trillion USD, can make use of the common market toliberalise trade, investment, services and capital sources and to connect witheconomies inside and outside of the region.
The abundant workforce, whose educationalqualifications and vocational skills are mutually recognised by the ASEANmembers, will have more opportunities to seek better jobs in the region.
Under the ASEAN Community, human rights and therights to basic freedoms are protected. Each country’s traditional culture ispreserved and has its values shared in the community.
However, the deputy minister also pointed outthe complex and fluid world situation over the past year, noting sluggisheconomic growth, terrorism and conflicts, increasing populism andprotectionism, and fierce competition among big countries.
Despite this, with efforts of the membercountries, ASEAN has reaped encouraging outcomes in the first year of theCommunity and the implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, said Dung.
The diplomat highlighted that security in theregion and each member nations is stable, with 218 of the 290 action linesunder the ASEAN Politico-Security Community Blueprint already implemented.
The grouping’s overall economy continued to postgood GDP growth in 2016, 4.5 percent – a rate expected to hit 4.6 percent in2017. The association also specified 118 prioritised action lines to carry outthe ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025. Efforts have been made toimplement 109 action lines in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community 2025.
Last year, ASEAN approved the Master Plan onASEAN Connectivity and the Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan III.
Activities at both regional and national scaleswere organised to prepare for the bloc’s 50th founding anniversary this year.The association has also reformed and improved the effectiveness of ASEANagencies and the ASEAN Secretariat.
In his article, Dung wrote that ASEAN has affirmedits centrality in dialogue and cooperation for regional peace and stability bypromoting its solidarity and central role in the evolving regional architectureand in responding to emerging challenges.
Partners of ASEAN have also affirmed that theytreasure relations with the bloc and support it in building the ASEAN Communityand playing a central role in the region. They have also pledged to work withASEAN to devise measures to carry out common action plans.
The formation of the ASEAN Community wasimportant to Vietnam, the deputy minister wrote, noting that ASEAN remains a pillarand a strategic priority in the country’s foreign policy.
What ASEAN has achieved over the past year canbe partly attributed to the substantial contribution of Vietnam, as seen inalmost all cooperation activities of the bloc, especially in the implementationof the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, Dung noted, adding that ministries andsectors in Vietnam have mapped out plans to carry out the vision and theblueprints of the three pillars in the Community.
On the East Sea issue, Vietnam has coordinatedwith other members to create consensus within ASEAN and between ASEAN andpartners so as to keep peace, stability, security, and safety of navigation andoverflight in the East Sea.
The country has also promoted the inclusion ofthe East Sea issue in documents of ASEAN meetings and forums, stressing the fulland effective implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties inthe East Sea and the early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the waters,according to Deputy Minister Dung.
The initial outcomes in ASEAN Community buildingare encouraging and have provided prerequisites for more development.
2017 is the second year of the ASEAN Community.The Philippines, which holds this year’s ASEAN chairmanship, set the theme as“Partnering for Change, Engaging the World” with six cooperation priorities inline with the Community’s development orientations and master plans.
Dung said to realise the ASEAN Community Vision2025, Vietnam will keep enhancing result-oriented cooperation to benefit peoplein each member country. It will carry out and combine the vision’s master planswith action programmes of its ministries, sectors and localities.
More communication activities will be conductedto raise public awareness of the ASEAN Community, as well as to maintain thesolidarity, consensus and principles which have made up the identity andsuccess of ASEAN, he wrote in the article.-VNA
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