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The 15th coordination conference on the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) took place by videoconference in Hanoi on June 17.

The Mission of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to ASEAN, in coordination with the ASEAN-RoK Development Cooperation Programme, launched a project on enhancing the detection capacity for COVID-19 in ASEAN countries on June 16.

Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Lim Jock Hoi and Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Kang Kyung-wha had phone talks on June 15 to discuss ways to boost cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ministers in charge of social welfare and development from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to cooperate together to ensure social welfare and enhance capacity of poor people and vulnerable groups to recover during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD) was held online on June 10 with the aim of mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Minister of Finance and Economy of Brunei Dato Amin Abdullah on June 10 affirmed that the countries will continue close cooperation and exert efforts to open trade routes via international commercial flights and sea routes right after the pandemic is placed under control.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son worked with Da Nang authorities on June 10 to check on medical tasks underway for the upcoming ASEAN-36 Summit and related conferences.

The ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) convened an online meeting on June 5, where delegates exchanged information on activities and initiatives regarding women, peace, and security.

The ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) on June 5 organised a consultation and special online meeting on protective and preventive measures for women and children at risk of domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ASEAN member nations, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ASEAN Plus Three) should strengthen cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and promoting economic development, Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan was quoted by Xinhua as saying on June 4.

Vietnam, performing its roles as the ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, will continue boosting cooperation in sustainable development for the goal of building a cohesive and responsive ASEAN, towards the realisation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, a Government official has affirmed.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh informed the press on the outcomes of two special virtual meetings of ASEAN on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic that Vietnam hosted on June 4, as Chair of the ASEAN in 2020.

Economic ministers from ASEAN member nations and the three partners of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (known as ASEAN+3) adopted a joint statement on June 4 on mitigating the economic impact of COVID-19.

Vietnam hopes US firms with potential in technology, professionalism, and capital will continue to select the country as an attractive and safe destination for relocating business and supply chains, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc said on June 3.

Economic ministers from ASEAN member nations convened an online meeting on June 4 to implement instructions from ASEAN leaders made at the Special ASEAN Summit on COVID-19 on April 14.

The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) always attaches a great importance to and considers Vietnam a preferred partner in US cooperative projects, CEO of the DFC Adam Boehler told Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc.

Sakai, a leading prestigious newspaper in Japan’s Kansai region, recently carried an article expressing trust in Vietnam’s success in its ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 29 discussed on the phone with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong bilateral and regional cooperation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

An online table-top exercise (TTX) on COVID-19 response among ASEAN member states’ military medicine forces was held on May 27, chaired by the Vietnamese Defence Ministry’s Military Medical Department.

Regional solidarity among ASEAN members is key to effective COVID-19 response, said Nehginpao Kipgen - Executive Director at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) - and Aakriti Bansal, a research assistant at the centre, in a recent article posted on Thailand’s Bangkok Post.