The flags of ASEAN and the member states (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – All member countries ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have recorded COVID-19infections. In the face of the pandemic’s complex developments, Vietnam, in itscapacity as ASEAN Chair in 2020, has been actively promoting the bloc’s commonefforts and cooperating with partners in the fight against the disease.
PromotingASEAN’s cohesion and responsiveness
As ASEAN Chair this year, Vietnam has beenworking closely with other members to promote the group’s readiness to respondand mitigate the outbreak’s impacts, reflecting a truly “cohesive andresponsive” ASEAN.
On February 14, after consulting with otherASEAN leaders, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued the ASEANChairman’s Statement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19,in which regional leaders highlighted the association’s priority to deal withthe disease and urge the international community to support ASEAN in thiseffort.
Aside from this statement, the countries’defence, economic and tourism ministers also issued statements that specifymeasures to coordinate their actions and effectively respond to the pandemic.They affirmed that ASEAN will continue stepping up concrete and practicalactions while enhancing information exchange and coordination at all levelswithin the bloc and with partners.
In her letter sent to heads of the memberparliaments of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) on March 30,Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, who alsochairs the 41st AIPA General Assembly, called on each AIPA member parliament tostand side by side and join hands with the governments of the ASEAN membercountries in response to the pandemic by strongly promoting their roles,adopting measures and policies proposed by their governments to curb thedisease, facilitating resources allocation and enhancing connections with the public.
She said as parliamentarians, they need tocontinue to spread messages of love, solidarity and encouragement to allpeople, particularly those on the front line of the fight against the COVID-19pandemic.
In reply, President of the National Assembly andSpeaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand Chuan Leekpai affirmed hissupport for the appeal and said that regional cooperation is essential at thistime to jointly protect ASEAN against the COVID-19 pandemic.
To discuss ways to implement the ASEANChairman’s Statement on ASEAN Collective Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19,at the request of Vietnam as ASEAN Chair, the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC)held a special meeting with the participation of all foreign ministers of themember nations in Vientiane, Laos, on February 20.
At the event, Vietnam proposed the next stepsfor the bloc to bolster common efforts and actions, including sharinginformation in a transparent manner, boosting effective coordination amongrelevant agencies at national and regional levels, strengthening internationalcooperation to effectively respond and control the pandemic, increasing supportfor citizens of the member countries when necessary, and trusting andsupporting one another in their response efforts.
Following a proposal by Vietnam, the ACC WorkingGroup on Public Health Emergencies was set up to promote concerted andinter-sectoral coordination of the whole ASEAN Community in response to thecomplex developments of the COVID-19 outbreak.
This working group’s first teleconference,chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung – head of theASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Vietnam, took place on March 31. Itdiscussed recommendations on cooperation orientations in the COVID-19 fightwhich will be submitted to the ACC and regional ministers for feedback beforethey are reported to ASEAN leaders.
Enhancingties with partners to cope with pandemic-caused challenges
Strengthening cooperation within ASEAN as wellas between the bloc and its partners to effectively deal with challenges causedby the COVID-19 outbreak is of critical importance.
As leading organisations in their respectiveregions, the European Union (EU) and ASEAN have been working together toovercome such challenges.
Speaking at the ASEAN-EU ministerial teleconferenceon COVID-19 held on March 20, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and ForeignMinister Pham Binh Minh noted that as ASEAN Chair in 2020, Vietnam has beencoordinating closely with other member countries to promote a synchronous andoverall approach for the whole ASEAN Community to improve readiness, gear upactive response measures and mitigate the pandemic’s impacts.
He asked the EU for technical assistance andcooperation in scientific research to control and treat infection cases, while ensuringthe interests and equal treatment of ASEAN citizens in the EU, and forcoordination to minimise the outbreak’s socio-economic impacts.
Highly valuing ASEAN’s efforts and achievementsin the COVID-19 battle, Vice President of the European Commission and HighRepresentative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security PolicyJosep Borrell Fontelles also asked ASEAN countries to create conditionsfor the repatriation of EU citizens from the Southeast Asian region.
Meanwhile, a teleconference between ASEAN and USsenior officials was also organised with a view to fostering bilateralcooperation in response to COVID-19 and public health challenges.
At this session, the Vietnamese representativeproposed orientations for cooperation between the US and ASEAN to contain thedisease, deal with negative socio-economic impacts, and ensure a stable lifefor people. The official also affirmed that Vietnam will actively coordinateASEAN’s efforts to that end.
US Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwellspoke highly of the group’s efforts and achievements and thanked the countriesfor helping US citizens to return home from coronavirus-hit areas. He alsopledged assistance for ASEAN citizens in the US.
Additionally, acting Australian Deputy ForeignMinister and head of the SOM Australia on ASEAN and East Asia Summit JustinHayhurst applauded Vietnam’s role and efforts as ASEAN Chair. He said hiscountry will continue supporting and working closely with Vietnam to promotedisease prevention and control via regional cooperation mechanisms, includingthe ASEAN-Australia Cooperation and the East Asia Summit./.
VNA
