Vietnam’s dynamic and responsible participation in ASEM overits two-decade-long membership has reflected the country’s foreign policy ofproactive international integration.
The country has left significant imprints in the ASEM’shistory since its founding in 1996 with the successful hosting of the fifthASEM Summit in 2004 and five ministers’ meetings, which were the 3rd ASEMEconomic Ministers’ Meeting in 2001, 1st ASEM ICT MinisterialMeeting in 2006, the 9th ASEM Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in 2009,the 2nd ASEM Education Ministers’ Meeting in 2009, and the 4th ASEM Labour and Employment Ministers’ Conference in 2012.
It has joined other members in initiating ASEM expansionat the fifth ASEM Summit and the 9th ASEM Foreign Ministers’Meeting; and in adopting a number of important documents and decisions definingnew orientations for the future of ASEM, including the Hanoi Declaration onCloser ASEM Economic Partnership, the ASEM Declaration on Dialogue amongCultures and Civilisations, and the Hanoi Recommendation for ASEM WorkingMethods (2004).
Vietnam has also proposed 24 initiatives and co-sponsored27 others within the ASEM framework in culture, healthcare, transport, energysecurity, food security, green growth, social welfare, inclusive growth,digital economy and more.
Vietnam is one of the pioneers in launching and maintaining ASEM’s firstcooperation mechanism on water management, with a focus on sub-regioncooperation among countries in the Mekong and Danube river basins.
It has also held some key positions in ASEM, for example, the Coordinator in the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 tenures andDeputy Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation from 2008-2012.
The nation is now a member of five ASEM Working Groups onwater management, climate change response, vocational training, education,human resource development and technological connectivity.
In June this year, Vietnam hosted the “ASEM Conference on ClimateAction to Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals – Ways Forward” in theMekong Delta City of Can Tho. It is an initiative of Vietnam approved at the13th ASEM Ministerial Meeting last November in Myanmar that won support andsponsorship from various countries, including Australia, Denmark, Myanmar,Finland, the Netherlands and Italy.
The country will organise the ASEM Conference on Lifelong Learning andthe 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Hanoi this November to contribute to the Incheon Declaration “Education 2030:Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning forall” and the Asia-Europe (ASEM) Education Process. The main goal of the event is to foster ASEMcooperation in achieving the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,especially Goal 4 - Quality Education, by promoting regional cooperation andsharing best practices on lifelong learning.
The ASEM was established as a forum of informal dialoguein 1996 as an initiative by Singapore and France with the support of 26 leadersof Asian and European countries, especially those from ASEAN. Its 53 members include51 countries and 2 regional organisations – the ASEAN Secretariat and the EuropeanCommission.
Its goals are to create a new comprehensive partnershipbetween Asia and Europe for stronger growth, to enhance mutual understandingbetween the peoples of the two continents and to establish close dialoguesbetween equal partners.
After five expansions, the forum has grown from 26 to 53members – 21 Asian and 30 European countries. They include four permanentmembers of the UN Security Council, 12 G20 nations, and four BRICS countries.
It represents over 60 percent of the world's population,more than 55 percent of the global trade, 65 percent of the global GDP and 75percent of global tourism. –VNA