Deputy Foreign Minister and head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM Nguyen Quoc Dung (Source: VNA)Washington (VNA) - Deputy Foreign Minister and head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM Nguyen Quoc Dung led a Vietnamese delegation to the 32ndASEAN-US Dialogue held in Washington DC from March 27-28.
The annual foreigndeputy ministerial-level conference aimed to review cooperation between ASEANand the US, discuss measures to further bolster their partnership, and comparednotes on regional and global issues of common concern.
In his speech on maritimesecurity cooperation, Deputy FM Dung said that this field has become veryimportant and a topic discussed at almost regional cooperation forums, sayingthat there have been some positives in the work, especially those innegotiations between ASEAN and China on a Code of Conduct inthe East Sea (COC).
He called on ASEAN, the US and their partners to furtherexpand cooperation through ASEAN-led cooperation mechanisms such as the ASEANRegional Forum, the East Asia Summit (EAS) the ASEAN DefenceMinister's Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum (EAMF).
He reaffirmed ASEAN's stance of self-restraint, non-militarisation and peacefulsettlement of disputes in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and fully andeffectively implement the Declaration onthe Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon achieve the COC
At the dialogue, representatives from ASEAN member states and the UShighlighted the importance of the ASEAN-US strategic partnership for securityand prosperity in the region.
They expressed their pleasure with the progress in implementing the action planfor 2016-2020.
The US is now thethird largest trade partner of ASEAN with total trade turnover reaching 234.2billion USD. It is the five biggest investor of ASEAN with total FDI hitting 4.3billion USD.
The two sides affirmed that they will fully tap their potential and strength topromote comprehensive cooperation.
They also identified a number of priority areas in cooperation, including fightingterrorism and transnational crime and human trafficking; cyber security; tradeand investment; digital connectivity; information technology andcommunications; smart city; energy; infrastructure, sub-region development; humanitarianassistance and disaster management; and education and student exchange.
The US reaffirmed the importance of ASEAN in its foreign policy, expressing itsdesire for ASEAN to successfully build the ASEAN Community, and promote itscentral role in the regional architecture.
Meanwhile, ASEAN appreciated the US’s commitments, showing the wish to continueto enhance comprehensive cooperation, and dialogues at regional andinternational forums.
ASEAN said the US’s development cooperation programmes with ASEAN are beingimplemented effectively, such as the Trade and Investment Framework Agreements(TIFA), the US - ASEAN Expanded Economic Engagement (E3) initiative, the ASEAN-USConnect initiative, the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), Young Southeast AsianLeaders Initiative (YSEALI), and the ASEAN-U.S. Partnership for Good Governance, Equitable and SustainableDevelopment and Security (PROGRESS) project
ASEAN welcomes theUS’s proposals on new development cooperation programmes in the next period.
Participates also discussed regional and international situations and sharedinformation on regional cooperation processes promoted by the parties, withfocus on Indo-Pacific cooperation.-VNA
VNA
