Indonesian President Joko Widodo (second from left) inspects a hospital providing treatment for COVID-19 patients in Jakarta, Indonesia (Photo: AFP/VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on June 26 voicedhis belief that ASEAN member nations will be able to overcome the impact of theCOVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the 36th ASEAN Summit held in the form of ateleconference, he affirmed that as a strong community established in more thanfive decades ago, ASEAN can go through this time of hardship to deal with socio-economicimpacts caused by the pandemic, and change the situation for the better.
ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi said that ASEANcountries and dialogue partners have taken actions to mitigate the socio-economicimpact of the pandemic.
He spoke highly of the prompt and decisive actions of ASEANmembers and their sound collaboration in COVID-19 response, as well as withtheir ASEAN Plus Three partners.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen affirmed thatthe 36th ASEAN Summit reflects Vietnam’s leadership as Chair of ASEAN despiteobstacles brought by the pandemic.
He noted that ASEAN needs a clear and cautious economicrecovery plan in the coming time, which devises scenarios for the gradualopening of borders in the region, intra-bloc trade and the recovery of thepandemic’s hardest-hit areas./.
