RoK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha at the 10th Mekong-RoK Foreign Ministers' Meeting (Source: VNA)Seoul (VNA) – Five Mekong sub-region nationsand the Republic of Korea (RoK), on September 29, called for joint efforts torestore and promote global trade plagued by the coronavirus pandemic and to securefair and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The pledge was made in a co-chairs statement adopted afterthe 10th RoK-Mekong foreign ministers' meeting held via a video link. TheMekong River nations consist of Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
"The Ministers ... reaffirmed their commitment toworking together to restore and maintain interconnectedness by facilitatinginternational trade and essential movement of people, goods and services acrossborders," the statement released by the RoK foreign ministry read asquoted by the RoK’s Yonhap News Agency.
They also reiterated their support for "vaccinemultilateralism and the goal of ensuring affordable, fair and equitable accessto safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for all," according to thestatement.
The ministers also expressed concern about tradeprotectionism and tensions and called for "a transparent, free, open andrules-based multilateral trading system led by the WTO (World Trade Organization)."
Regarding Korean peninsula's peace process, they reiteratedtheir support for efforts toward denuclearisation and building permanent peaceand agreed that peace and prosperity on the peninsula can only be achievedthrough continued dialogue.
The 10th RoK-Mekong foreign ministers' meeting took place onSeptember 28 and was co-hosted by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh and RoK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
The RoK and the five Southeast Asian nations held their firstForeign Ministers’ meeting in 2011./.
VNA
