Officials at the meeting

Thosemeetings are within the framework of the 35th ASEAN Summit andrelated meetings in the Thai capital from November 2-4.

Addressingthe meetings, Deputy PM Minh spoke highly of ASEAN’s achievements after morethan four years of implementing the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, contributingto maintaining an environment of peace, security, stability; facilitatingregional cooperation and development, enhancing the bloc’s capacity of respondingto challenges while intensifying economic connectivity to bring practicalbenefits to people in the region.

He said 2020is an important year marking five years of the implementation of ASEANCommunity Vision 2025 and comprehensive plans to build the Community’s pillars,along with other major anniversaries.

Therefore,Minh suggested ASEAN should conduct mid-term review of ASEAN Community Vision2025 fulfillment, identify outstanding problems and seek suitable solutions tothem, while outlining new orientations and improving the efficiency of cooperationmechanisms led by the bloc, contributing to strengthening ASEAN’s central rolein an open, transparent and rules-based regional architecture.

Amid rapidand complicated developments in the world, he said the strengthening of ASEANunity and solidarity continues to hold a strategic significance and lay thefoundation for ASEAN’s success over the past years and in the future.

ASEAN needsto further improve its capacity of responding to opportunities and challengesarising from the fourth industrial revolution, towards spreading the message ofa dynamic grouping with sustainable and inclusive development.

RegardingASEAN’s political-security pillar, the Vietnamese Deputy PM highlighted theneed to popularise values, principles and standards of conduct that aregenerally accepted in the region.

At the sametime, he called for stepping up dialogue, building trust, creating anenvironment conducive for negotiations on an effective and efficient Code ofConduct in the East Sea in line with international law, including the 1982United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, thus maintaining ASEAN’scentral role and leading position in cooperation processes for peace, securityand stability in the region.

At the events,ASEAN ministers discussed in depth regional and global issues of sharedconcern, including the fight against terrorism, extreme violence,trans-national crimes, cyber and maritime security, and innovation capacitybuilding./.VNA