Vietnamese delegation at ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat (Source: VNA)Vientiane (VNA) – Vietnam fully backs ASEAN’s cooperation priorities in 2016 initiated by Laos as this year’s ASEAN Chair, said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
The official made the remarks at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat which took place in Vientiane, Laos, on February 27.
Vietnam will closely coordinate with Laos and other ASEAN member countries to help Laos successfully perform the ASEAN Chairmanship, he pledged.
Minh shared with other ASEAN FMs’ viewpoints on the need for the ten-member group to prioritise maintaining peace and stability in the region amidst the complicated regional security.
The FMs urged ASEAN to uphold its key role in settling regional challenges as well as in the regional evolving architecture, while further deepening its relations with dialogue partners in order to take advantage of their support for the effectuation of the ASEAN Community Vision.
On the fringes of the Retreat, Deputy PM and FM Minh held a bilateral meeting with his Lao counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith.
The two officials compared notes on measures to step up bilateral ties and agreed to effectively realise agreements reached at the annual high-ranking meeting of the two Politburos last December as well as outcomes of the Inter-Governmental Committee’s 38 th meeting.
The two countries will increase the exchange of all-level delegations and complete documents on land border marker planting and upgrading.
The two sides were unanimous to tighten their coordination within the framework of ASEAN and work together to strengthen intra-bloc solidarity and carry forward the common voice as well as the central role of the bloc in major regional matters.-VNA
