Second ASEAN-RoK Think Tank Strategic Dialogue opens

Hanoi (VNA) - The second Think Tank Strategic Dialogue between ASEAN member states and the Republic of Korea (RoK) took place on October 6 with the theme “ASEAN-RoK Relations into a New Decade: Towards a Joint Strategic Vision”.

The online dialogue, chaired jointly by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), attracted the participation of delegates from 10 member agencies of the ASEAN Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN ISIS), the KNDA, and other RoK research offices, and diplomatic missions in Hanoi and Seoul.

In his opening remarks, DAV Vice President Nguyen Hung Son affirmed that intensifying cooperation between ASEAN and the RoK, including promoting dialogues on strategic issues, is of significance at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is making the world and regional situations become more uncertain and unpredictable, which is posing challenges to small and medium-sized countries such as ASEAN members and the RoK.

KNDA Chancellor Kim Joon-hyung said that ASEAN has become a focus in his country’s foreign policy.

Amid the difficulties caused by the pandemic, ASEAN and the RoK should take advantage of opportunities to boost collaboration, promote achievements, and build sustainable partnerships.

Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs Simon Tay, who is also Chair of ASEAN-ISIS in 2020, stressed the need for both sides to foster measures to consolidate trust and intensify dialogue and cooperation.

To boost ASEAN-RoK relations in the 2021-2025 period, participants suggested both sides continue implementing agreed-upon cooperation efforts, in particular coordinating to control the pandemic, resolve its consequences, and promote post-pandemic economic recovery.

The two sides should harmonise the bilateral relationship between the RoK and each Southeast Asian nation, and step up coordination in ASEAN-led regional mechanisms.

Priority should be given to fields of potential such as infrastructure, the digital economy, water security in the Mekong River sub-region, and high-quality human resources training, they said./.