Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, at the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 in the form of teleconference hosted by Vietnam on April 14, proposed the setting up of a economic recovery plan for the region after the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled.

Thailand is struggling with an increasingly severe drought as the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia also continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha plans to push ahead with a proposal to set up the ASEAN Response Fund (ARF) as part of a six-point declaration to be endorsed by the ten ASEAN leaders as they join hands to fight COVID-19, Bangkok Post reported.

President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in on April 14 stressed the importance of close international coordination on both antivirus quarantine and the economy in the face of a shift in global order.

Head of the Foreign Ministry’s ASEAN Department Vu Ho has said the Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 Response, to be held online for the first time on April 14, will enable ASEAN leaders to affirm their determination to build a cohesive and responsive community.

Former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan Asano Katsuhito affirmed on April 13 that Vietnam’s organisation of an online special summit between ASEAN and its three partner countries of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3) in its role as the ASEAN Chair is the most appropriate and significant at this moment.

Up to 95 percent of the Cambodian factories are operating as usual during the traditional New Year period in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19, according to officials.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs of the Republic of Korea Gunn Kim has said the online ASEAN+3 meeting, scheduled for April 14, will pool political determination of leaders to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upcoming ASEAN and ASEAN + 3 Special Summits on COVID-19 Response symbolise regional solidarity, said Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi in an written Interview with the Vietnam News Agency on April 13.

Leaders of the ASEAN nations and the partner countries of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3) will discuss measures and initiatives during online special summits on April 14 aimed at further enhancing cooperation in the COVID-19 fight and ensuring that the region’s dynamic and sustainable development continues in the long term.

Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has written an article on ASEAN’s cooperation to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The following is the full text of the article.

The ASEAN Plus Three (ASEAN+3) cooperation mechanism has been running in high gear since the outbreak of COVID-19, and the collective response fully demonstrates the close neighborliness and friendship, Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Deng Xijun has said.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has recently written an article on ASEAN cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in which he described solidarity as the grouping’s strength in the combat.

The private sector of Thailand will ask the Thai government to speed up introducing the same practices for logistics procedures nationwide that now exist in a patchwork applied differently across various provinces.