A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem participated in the second official ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore from May 31 to June 1.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy PM Khiem emphasised the importance and great potential of cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and GCC and suggested the two sides step up their relations in trade, investment, energy, food, agriculture, tourism people-to-people exchange, labour, finance and consular affairs.
The two sides should adopt specific plans and mechanisms and earmark necessary resources for swift and effective cooperation activities, he said.
The Vietnamese Deputy PM affirmed that Vietnam, as the current ASEAN Chair, will do its utmost to boost the ASEAN-GCC cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Deputy PM Khiem had a bilateral meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart to accelerate the implementation of high-level agreements reached during PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Kuwait in March 2010.
At this second meeting, the ministers reviewed the developments of the ASEAN-GCC relationship, especially after the first official meeting in Bahrain in June 2009, and discussed orientations for their cooperation in the coming time as well as exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.
They stressed the great potential and high supplementation of the ASEAN-GCC cooperation, vowing to speed up the existing agreements on priority areas.
The ministers approved a two-year plan of action for 2010-2012, defining specific cooperation measures in priority areas, including trade, investment, agriculture, food, energy, tourism, education, culture and information as well as concrete mechanisms to implement these measures.
They agreed to early hold meetings of the joint working teams in order to promote cooperation on each field, and consider a possibility of forming an ASEAN-GCC free trade area.
The ministers stated that the two sides should put forth measures to expand cooperation to other potential areas such as labour, consular affairs, banking, transport and inter-religious dialogue.
They also agreed to organise the ASEAN-GCC FMs’ meeting annually instead of biennially, with the next meeting being held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2011.
On the occasion, the ASEAN-GCC ministers issued a joint statement condemning attack on a convoy of aid ships for Palestine and calling upon Israel to release arrested Palestinian people.
ASEAN includes Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam while GCC groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE./.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy PM Khiem emphasised the importance and great potential of cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and GCC and suggested the two sides step up their relations in trade, investment, energy, food, agriculture, tourism people-to-people exchange, labour, finance and consular affairs.
The two sides should adopt specific plans and mechanisms and earmark necessary resources for swift and effective cooperation activities, he said.
The Vietnamese Deputy PM affirmed that Vietnam, as the current ASEAN Chair, will do its utmost to boost the ASEAN-GCC cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Deputy PM Khiem had a bilateral meeting with his Kuwaiti counterpart to accelerate the implementation of high-level agreements reached during PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to Kuwait in March 2010.
At this second meeting, the ministers reviewed the developments of the ASEAN-GCC relationship, especially after the first official meeting in Bahrain in June 2009, and discussed orientations for their cooperation in the coming time as well as exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.
They stressed the great potential and high supplementation of the ASEAN-GCC cooperation, vowing to speed up the existing agreements on priority areas.
The ministers approved a two-year plan of action for 2010-2012, defining specific cooperation measures in priority areas, including trade, investment, agriculture, food, energy, tourism, education, culture and information as well as concrete mechanisms to implement these measures.
They agreed to early hold meetings of the joint working teams in order to promote cooperation on each field, and consider a possibility of forming an ASEAN-GCC free trade area.
The ministers stated that the two sides should put forth measures to expand cooperation to other potential areas such as labour, consular affairs, banking, transport and inter-religious dialogue.
They also agreed to organise the ASEAN-GCC FMs’ meeting annually instead of biennially, with the next meeting being held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2011.
On the occasion, the ASEAN-GCC ministers issued a joint statement condemning attack on a convoy of aid ships for Palestine and calling upon Israel to release arrested Palestinian people.
ASEAN includes Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam while GCC groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE./.
