The ASEAN flag (Photo: thcasean.org)
New York (VNA) – Vietnam’s PermanentMission to the United Nations in its capacity as ASEAN Chair in New York hosteda virtual ceremony on August 7 tocelebrate the 53rd founding anniversary of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) (August 8).
The ceremony was attended by President of theUN General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad Bande, UN Under-Secretary-General Atul Khare, UN Assistant Secretary-General Alexander Zuev and more than 400 delegates from UN member states.
Bande applauded ASEAN’s key role in maintainingpeace, stability and prosperity in the region and expressed his wish to furtherenhance close cooperation between ASEAN and the UN in various fields such aspeacekeeping, counterterrorism, natural disaster mitigation, climate change, protectionof labourers, gender equality and children’s rights.
He welcomed ASEAN’s efforts in promoting sustainabledevelopment and enhancing links between the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and theUN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Khare also expressed his desire to step upclose cooperation between ASEAN and the UN, especially in peacekeeping andbuilding peacekeeping capacity, and thanked ASEAN member nations for sending5,000 servicepersons, including servicewomen, to UN peacekeeping missions.
Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, he said,ASEAN may play an important role in dealing with the current challenges.
He took this occasion to thank Vietnam forhelping the UN’s COVID-19 medical evacuation force to bring UN staff infectedwith the coronavirus to high-quality treatment facilities as well as providing technicaltraining for nations sending servicepersons to peacekeeping missions within theASEAN-UN cooperation framework.
On behalf of the ASEAN member states, Head ofVietnam’s Permanent Mission to the UN Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy said ASEAN hasbeen developing strongly since its inception 53 years ago, emerging from awar-torn region to a region of peace, stability, prosperity and dynamicdevelopment.
These achievements are attributed to theefforts of ASEAN people and the close relations with partner and friend nationsaround the world as well as the UN, he stressed.
The ambassador affirmed the commitment to joinhands with other nations to further promote ASEAN-UN relations in the fields ofpolitics, economy, culture and social affairs.
The same day, the Vietnamese Embassy in SouthAfrica hoisted the ASEAN flag to mark the bloc’s 53rd foundinganniversary.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassadorto South Africa Hoang Van Loi said as ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam has been tryingits best to leading the bloc to seize opportunities and effectively respond to challengesin the “Cohesive and Responsive” spirit.
As South Africa is planning to sign the Treatyof Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) this year, relations betweenSouth Africa and ASEAN in general and its member states in particular,including Vietnam, are expected to see new and strong development steps, especiallyin the fields of economy-trade and coordination at regional and internationalforums, Loi added./.
