Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son has called on ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to enhance cooperation to bolster peace and stability, uphold multilateralism and a rules-based international order, and support the peaceful settlement of disputes.
Addressing the ASEAN – GCC Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 25, Son urged ASEAN and GCC to fast-track the 2024–2028 cooperation framework by identifying priority areas for each phase to optimise available resources.
He suggested that both sides should select annual priority areas that are complementary and aligned with mutual interests, such as trade-investment, connectivity, digital transformation, energy, and the Halal economy. Among them, connectivity was highlighted as a key pillar essential to unlocking new flows of goods, capital, and human resources between the two regions, which together represent a combined population of 750 million and a GDP exceeding 5 trillion USD.
Cooperation mechanisms should be further fine-tuned, with a priority given to improving the efficiency of coordination between the ASEAN Secretariat and the GCC Secretariat, as well as between the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN and GCC Ambassadors in Jakarta, to establish a regular and effective channel for information exchange, while pooling the active involvement of sectoral bodies to turn commitments into reality.
On the occasion, he reiterated Vietnam’s consistent stance on supporting peace and stability in the Middle East, as well as diplomatic efforts and dialogue aimed at achieving a just and sustainable solution, in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of the 2023 Joint Statement of the ASEAN-GCC Summit and the ASEAN–GCC Framework of Cooperation for 2024–2028. Ministers stressed that the demand and potential for cooperation between the two regions remain vast, especially in such complementary areas as trade, investment, energy, finance, connectivity, and people-to-people exchange.
They committed to greater joint efforts to translate commitments into concrete cooperation projects and programmes.
Building on the historic first ASEAN - GCC Summit in 2023, they expressed confidence that the second ASEAN - GCC Summit, scheduled for May 27, 2025, would generate fresh momentum and open new avenues for practical and effective cooperation across politics-security, economy, trade, finance, connectivity, socio-culture, and people-to-people exchange for the sake of peace, stability, and sustainable development in both regions./.
