RoK Ambassador to ASEAN Lim Sung-nam in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (Photo: VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – Vietnam did a goodjob as the ASEAN Chair this year, and the more than 80 documents adopted at the37th ASEAN Summit and related summits last week is a proof that the country hasturned a crisis into an opportunity for success, the Republic of Korea (RoK)’sAmbassador to the bloc Lim Sung-nam has said.
In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency,Lim said Vietnam did a very good job, and the summits from November 12 to 15were a great success in three regards.
First and foremost, ASEAN together with thedialogue partners and the regional community could confirm the commitment tofight the COVID-19 in a very cooperative manner. Secondly, ASEAN also charted ablueprint for the post-pandemic economic recovery which is called the ASEANComprehensive Recovery Framework. And last but not least, the signing of theRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was another historicalmilestone.
The diplomat held that theVietnamese Mission to ASEAN, Ambassador Tran Duc Binh and his team all deservecredit as the leadership they exerted was cohesive and responsive.
“To be more specific, they exerted patient andpersistent leadership in navigating very difficult negotiation,” he said,citing the adoption of five statements by the East Asia Summit (EAS) as anexample since it's not easy to bring all together EAS member states on the sameboat so that they could adopt five statements, which is unprecedented in thehistory of the EAS.
Regarding the ASEAN-RoK cooperation this year,Ambassador Lim said his country did prove to ASEAN that a friend in need is afriend indeed.
The two sides are all in very difficult timesbecause of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they also have taken advantage of thecrisis to show the world and ASEAN that the RoK is a true friend of the bloc,he added, highlighting the RoK’s launch of a mega project worth 5 million USDfor enhancing ASEAN member states’ capacity of COVID-19 detection, its donationof 1 million USD to the ASEAN COVID-19 response fund, and the contributions tothe ASEAN medical supplies stockpile system.
Talking about the ASEAN-RoK cooperation for thetime ahead, Lim noted that his country will promote the implementation of theNew Southern Policy Plus, through which the RoK will continue to upgrade thelevel of cooperation in seven key areas, including health care, human resourcesdevelopment, trade and industry, cultural exchanges, non-traditional security,infrastructure, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
One of the key goals of the New Southern PolicyPlus is to create the foundation for sustainable and mutually beneficial tradeand investment, and that's more or less in line with the ASEAN Comprehensive RecoveryFramework.
The ambassador expressed his belief that byutilising those two frameworks, the RoK and ASEAN will continue to cooperatevery closely for the mutually beneficial operation of the RCEP and at the sametime to create a people-centered community of prosperity between the two sidesin the coming years.
As for the RCEP, he said it will be a veryimportant regional framework for further expanding trade and investmentregionally and globally. In the post-pandemic years, the RCEP will provide aplatform upon which the region as well as the global community will be able torecover from the economic recessions brought about by the COVID-19.
Besides, ASEAN has been the second largesttrading partner of his country, and the RoK has been ASEAN's fifth largesttrading partner. The bloc has also been the number two destination of foreigndirect investment from the Northeast Asian nation. All these trade andinvestment ties will be further bolstered by the RCEP, according to him./.
VNA
