Vietnam ready for ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020: ambassador

Ambassador and head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh (R) at a meeting (Source: VNA)

As the permanent representative of Vietnam – the Chairman of ASEAN in 2020, the mission will preside over about 300 meetings during the year, Ambassador and head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh told Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Jakarta.

The mission will coordinate with Vietnamese agencies in the homeland and the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to enhance consultation and information sharing with the group’s member nations through committees and ambassador-level cooperation mechanisms between ASEAN and partners.

The mission is scheduled to propose the adoption of a regulation or form to promote coordination between ASEAN cooperation channels, and participate in negotiations of cooperation documents between ASEAN and partners.

In 2020, up to seven action plans between ASEAN and its partners such as China, India, New Zealand, Russia, the US and Canada will be built and submitted to ministers and senior leaders for approval.

Ambassador Binh highlighted the effective implementation of regional cooperation, and plans and programmes to build the ASEAN Community over the past year. He stressed that the group has made important efforts in building the community as well as maintaining its centre role in the region.

According to the diplomat, the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN has actively joined ASEAN’s activities in Jakarta and within the framework of the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), and contributed to intra-bloc cooperation, as well as cooperation between the group and its partners.

As a member of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee, the mission took part in promoting joint activities. Especially in 2019, the mission and permanent representatives of other ASEAN member countries worked with the ASEAN Secretariat and consultants to issue the list of priority infrastructure projects, which is a crucial foundation for calling for support from regional and international financial organisations for ASEAN in developing infrastructure.

Besides, the mission participated in the Initiative for ASEAN Integration Task Force, which was proposed and approved by Vietnam in 2000 when it was the chair of the CPR in 2000-2001. This initiative is the basis for ASEAN member nations to cooperate with each other. The mission coordinated with other permanent representatives of ASEAN countries in monitoring and promoting cooperation projects between the group and its partners, as well as in drafting important documents and submitting them to ministers and senior leaders for approval. The documents included the ASEAN-EU statement on cybersecurity cooperation, the ASEAN-Australia Action Plan in 2020-2024, and the East Asia Summit’s statement on cooperation to combat drug trafficking and transnational crime, among others.

Binh said all documents that the mission participated in building showed ASEAN’s stance and Vietnam’s important priorities in promoting ASEAN cooperation.

As the country coordinator of the ASEAN-Japan relations for 2018-2021, the mission presided over and carried out many cooperation activities with the Japanese mission to ASEAN as well as with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he noted.

The mission also coordinated with agencies in Vietnam to organise the first ASEAN-Japan Day in Vietnam to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the ASEAN-Japan partnership, the ambassador said.