Myanmar President U Win Myint (second, left) and the ASEAN countries' leaders at the 32nd ASEAN Summit in Singapore (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Myanmar President U Win Myint has called on the Myanmar people to exert more efforts to boost socio-economic development and actively engage in the ASEAN Community building process, thus contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.
The President made the call on August 8 on the occasion of the 51st founding anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
President U Win Myint said Myanmar, as a responsible member of ASEAN, has been in full cooperation with other member states in the implementation of ASEAN Community Blueprints, regional integration and community building.
With a view to realizing an inclusive, united, resilient and innovative ASEAN Community, he said ASEAN is working together in improving the quality of lives of the people through various cooperative activities in education, health, human resources development, environmental protection, disaster management and sustainability of natural resources.
He added that ASEAN is also placing high priority on the promotion of cultural cooperation and people-to-people engagements in order to forge a stronger sense of identity towards ASEAN.
Despite attaining many achievements in community building efforts, the President warned that ASEAN today is facing with emerging traditional and non-traditional challenges, he noted.
In addressing the issues of common concern such as transnational crimes, terrorism, cyber security, climate change and environmental degradation, food and energy security, President U Win Myint underlined that ASEAN has been able to demonstrate the collective strength and resilience that lies at the core and become more united in the face of these challenges.
In 2018, the theme of the association is to build a self-reliant and innovative ASEAN, aiming to strengthen efforts to cope with future challenges.
Myanmar, along with Laos, joined the regional grouping in July 1997 at its 30th anniversary.-VNA
VNA
