ASEAN, Switzerland agree to expand all-around cooperation

Jakarta (VNA) – ASEAN and Switzerland on October 16 held the 5th meeting of the ASEAN-Switzerland Joint Sectoral Cooperation Committee (AS-JSCC), during which the two sides emphasised their commitment to strengthening dialogue partnership in many fields.

Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, head of the Vietnamese mission to ASEAN, attended the virtual event which aims to review and discuss measures to promote the implementation of cooperation projects between ASEAN and Switzerland.

Representatives from ASEAN member countries and Switzerland noted the results achieved in implementing recent cooperation programmes between the two sides in the fields of politics-security, economic development, training, culture and people-to-people exchange, especially the implementation of the the Action Plan for the ASEAN-Switzerland Practical Cooperation Areas (CPA) in the 2017-2021 period.

The Swiss side affirmed to support multilateral cooperation, pledged to attach importance to relations with ASEAN and support the grouping's central role in the region, and wished to build closer cooperation with the bloc on all the three pillars.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Switzerland highly valued Vietnam’s role as the Chair of ASEAN 2020, and its good performance of coordinating and maintaining intra-regional cooperation activities as well as strengthening cooperation with the bloc’s partners to respond to the pandemic, and successfully organise many important meetings in 2020.

The Swiss side said it is considering its contribution to the ASEAN Fund to respond to COVID-19 when the fund is officially established, and agreed to strengthen cooperation, facilitate trade and investment activities, and enhance connection chains to promote post-pandemic recovery./.