Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung assertedVietnam's commitment to extensively and practically accelerate the ASEAN +3 andEAS cooperation mechanisms at related meetings and in Singapore on August 1.
Dung, whois also head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM, stressed that Vietnam actively supports andpromotes priority cooperation areas of ASEAN +3 and EAS.
He expressedthe hope that partners will continue to support the central role of ASEAN, andjoin efforts to consolidate an opening, transparent and rule-based regionalstructure for peace, stability and development in the region.
The meetings focused discussions on preparations for the 19th ASEAN +3 ForeignMinisters' Meeting and the 8th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers'Meeting (8th EAS FMM)scheduled to take place on August 4.
Participants to the ASEAN+3 meeting highlighted the importance of the ASEAN 3cooperation mechanism as a tool towards a long-term goal of the communitybuilding in East Asia after 20 years of formation and development, affirmingthat this is an integral component of the regional cooperation architecture.
They also reviewed theresults of the implementation of the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Cooperation Work Plan forthe 2018-2022 period and the implementation of recommendations in the Report ofthe East Asia Vision Group II (EAVGII) in recent times.
They stressed the need to continuepromoting specific and practical cooperation in areas of common interest andpriority, such as counterterrorism and extreme violence prevention; maritime cooperation; economicintegration and regional connection; macro-financial stability, small andmedium sized-enterprise development, health, climate change, disaster response,food security, cultural exchange and people-to-people exchange.
The meeting agreed on the importanceof accelerating efforts to complete negotiations on the Regional EconomicPartnership Agreement (RCEP) on schedule, and maintain the ASEAN+3’scontributions to promoting economic links and market opening in the region.
ASEAN 3 senior officials agreed that the planed agenda and activities and draftdocuments that will be reported to the 19th ASEAN+3 ForeignMinisters' Meeting, while debating preparations for the 21st ASEAN+3 Summit in November 2018.
Meanwhile, officials to the EAS meeting emphasized the important role played bythe EAS as a forum for leaders to promote dialogue on strategically politicaland economic issues, thus bringing recorded benefits for peace, stability andcooperation in the region.
They affirmed their commitment to invest appropriate resources for theimplementation of the Manila Action Plan in the 2018-2022 period of the EAS.
The EAS’s member nations agreed to foster cooperation in priority areas in the Planand said that they will offer more specific cooperation proposals in areas suchas maritime cooperation, health and education, environmental protection,disaster response, creativity, energy, and e-commerce.
In preparation for the 8th EAS FMM on August 4, and the 13th EASSummit to be held on November this year, participants discussed and basically agreedon documents that will be reported to foreign ministers before submitting tosenior leaders on promoting EAS cooperation in the spheres of smart citydevelopment, counterterrorism, minimization of plastic waste at sea, nuclear andinformation security.
The ASEAN+3 comprises ten member countries of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - and China, Japan and theRepublic of Korea (RoK).-VNA
VNA
