Southeast Asian diplomats hail Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship

Pretoria (VNA) – Vietnam, as the ASEAN Chair in 2020, has made tireless efforts in cultivating solidarity and unity that enable the bloc to surmount challenges, according to ASEAN ambassadors in South Africa.

They made the appraisal while attending a meeting of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee (APC) chaired by Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Van Loi on September 23. This was the first meeting of APC members in six months as South Africa applied social distancing measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thai Ambassador Komate Kamalanavin affirmed Vietnam has done a great job in leading the region to deal with the coronavirus. He also hailed Vietnam’s support to several ASEAN member states and dialogue partners in response to the outbreak.

Sharing the view with the Thai diplomat, Malaysian Ambassador Mohamad Nizan B.Mohamad said he was impressed by Vietnam’s responsibility in leading ASEAN to overcome common challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic – now considered as the global crisis.

In addition, the ASEAN ambassadors spoke highly of Loi as the APC Chairman, saying he has coordinated the committee’s activities in an effective manner after he took over the position in a very short time.

At the event, Ambassador Loi informed the APC members of the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-53) and related meetings’ outcomes, highlighting major achievements.

Regarding the ASEAN-South Africa relations, Loi said the Vietnamese and South African foreign ministries are preparing procedures for South Africa to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) on the sidelines of the 37th ASEAN Summit in November./.