Many countries want to establish partnerships with ASEAN

(Dan Tri) – The 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related conferences this week will consider proposals to establish new partnerships with interested countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, Head of Vietnam’s ASEAN SOM, chaired an international press conference on the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related conferences.

This afternoon, September 7, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, Head of ASEAN SOM Vietnam, chaired an international press conference on the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related conferences.

20 important conferences

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will chair the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-53) and related conferences from September 9-12/

In terms of organization, there will be about 20 ministerial-level conferences and meetings such as the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Conference;

On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will chair a special meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) on sub-regional development and the ASEAN Ministerial Dialogue on promoting the role of women.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung commented that with the participation of 28 delegations from 4 continents and different time zones, the organization and scheduling of meetings for this meeting is a big challenge for the Vietnamese President.

Content discussed at conferences

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that AMM-53 and related conferences are one of the most important conferences in Vietnam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship year.

In the context of ASEAN cooperation activities being greatly affected by the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam is trying to fulfill its ASEAN Chairmanship duties at the highest level, proposing many initiatives, maintaining and promoting

On that basis, the Ministers will discuss a number of contents including: (i) Reviewing progress and ensuring quality of implementation of major priorities and initiatives agreed upon for 2020 such as the Mid-term Review

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that it is expected that 40 documents will be considered, recorded and approved at the conferences, of which the most notable are the joint communiqué of the AMM-53 Conference, the Ha Noi Action Plan.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, Head of SOM ASEAN Vietnam

The parties wish to resume COC negotiations

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) is still a priority for ASEAN and China.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that due to the Covid-19 epidemic situation, COC negotiations were stalled for a long time.

Despite this, ASEAN and China have recently had a number of working-level online meetings.

Potential partners

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that currently, with ASEAN growing stronger, ASEAN’s position and role are increasingly increasing in the international arena.

The current ASEAN partnership has several levels including: Full dialogue partnership, sectoral dialogue partnership, and development partnership.

Regarding a full dialogue partnership: The UK is proposing to establish one.

Regarding dialogue partnerships by sector: ASEAN received a number of proposals from countries, including Morocco, United Arab Emirates (UAE)…

Regarding development partnership: France and Italy are proposing to establish it.

In addition, a number of proposals to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with ASEAN include Cuba, UAE, Colombia…

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said all of these proposals are being considered.

Looking forward to signing RCEP this year

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is one of ASEAN’s priorities and ASEAN strives to complete the signing this year.

As ASEAN Chair, Vietnam actively promotes the signing of RCEP by the end of the year.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said that Vietnam’s biggest expectation when organizing the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related conferences is that Vietnam’s plans and priorities from the beginning of the year until now will be implemented.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said non-traditional security issues will also be the content of the ASEAN agenda.