Vietnam on June 8 pledged to do its utmost as the ASEAN chair to promote cooperation between the bloc and regional partners as well as organisations, including the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

The commitment was made by Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan at the 3 rd CICA summit in Istanbul , Turkey the same day.

Under the theme of seeking appropriate concerted approach for the regional security issues, the summit focused on measures of coordinating member states’ actions regarding to peace and security issues.

Speaking at the summit, Vice State President Doan welcomed the theme, saying that today, apart from achievements, Asia is confronting many challenges arising from the global economic and financial crisis, trans-national crime, climate change and diseases.

Those issues, she said, canot be addressed by any single region or nation. More efforts are needed to seek a long-term solution to the development in Asia . She underlined that a mechanism for coordination between the ASEAN and CICA will improve the activities and status of both organisations on the international arena.

Doan praised the progresses made by CICA over the past two decades, saying that the conference has displayed its role as an important dialogue for narrowing differences and building confidence in Asia , contributing to the construction of peace, security and prosperity of countries in the region.

The summit also announced Vietnam and Iraq ’s joining of the organisation.

Speaking with the press, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Cuong said Vietnam ’s becoming a CICA official member was of great significance to Vietnam and CICA. It also shows Vietnam ’s responsibility for contributing to security, peace, cooperation and development issues in the region.

Joining the CICA, Vietnam will have opportunities to expand its dialogue channels and increase contact with CICA member states.

CICA was established in 1993 at the initiative of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev as a forum for dialogue and consultations and promotion of confidence building measures among its members on security and development.

CICA has 22 member countries from all sub-regions of Asia including Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East .

Vietnam has joined the CICA since 1993 as guest participant at first and then as observer. During the official visit to Kazakhstan last September, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced Vietnam ’s decision to join the conference as an official member./.