Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Dang Xuan Dung (second from the right) takes over the Chairmanship of the ASEAN Committee in Buenos Aires (ACBA) from Philippine Ambassador Linglingay F. Lacanlale (centre) on January 22.

Present at the event were ambassadors and diplomats of five ASEAN countries in Argentina, namely Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines,Indonesia and Vietnam.

In her remarks, Ambassador Lacanlale provided the attendees with anoverview of what the Philippines has done as a rotating ACBA chair over thepast six months, including a number of workshops and meetings with localofficials to strengthen intra-bloc unity and cooperation and enhance tiesbetween ASEAN and Argentina.

Ambassador Dung, for his part, congratulated his Philippinecounterpart on accomplishing her mission as Chair of ACBA and spoke highly ofevents organised by the Embassy of the Philippines in the past six months.

The Vietnamese ambassador highlighted the significant role of the ACBA chair,pledging to give the highest priority to fulfilling the responsibility.

He alsovowed to do his best to promote the group’s activities on the basis ofintra-bloc solidarity and at the same time, accelerate cooperation withArgentina in multiple areas, particularly economy, trade, investment andculture.

The ambassadors anddiplomats from the participating ASEAN countries also affirmed the importance of theenhancement of solidarity and friendship within ASEAN which would contribute toheightening the bloc’s reputation and prestige on the international stage.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises 10 member states - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam./.VNA