Vietnam praised practical progress in relations between ASEAN and its partners, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem said.

The Vietnamese official expressed this appreciation while attending meetings of ASEAN foreign ministers with its partners – China , Japan , the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Australia , in Bali , Indonesia on July 21.

Deputy PM Khiem urged ASEAN and its partners to continue effectively implementing their cooperative programmes and projects as scheduled and boosting cooperation in other fields like human resources development, information technology, science and technology and non-traditional security issues.

He also proposed ASEAN partners continue supporting and contributing to building the ASEAN Community and Connectivity, narrowing the development gap as well as supporting ASEAN’s central role within the framework of regional forums including ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, EAS, ARF and ADMM+.

At the ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the FMs agreed that ASEAN+3 was an active and effective cooperative mechanism in the region, markedly contributing to building a regional architecture for peace, security, stability and development and supporting the progress of building the ASEAN Community and Connectivity.

At the ASEAN-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the FMs agreed to continue carrying out activities to mark the 20 th anniversary of the founding of the ASEAN-China strategic partnership, towards the summit of ASEAN-China anniversary in November. They proposed the two sides actively implement the Joint Declaration on the ASEAN-China Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity for the period of 2011-2015.

They confirmed their commitments to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the full and effective implementation of the DOC for peace, stability, security and maritime safety in the region.

They also welcomed the restoration of the ASEAN-China senior officials’ meeting and the finalisation of guidelines for the implementation of the DOC, considering them meaningful results and a start for the goal of building trust and accelerating the implementation of the DOC.

The ASEAN and Chinese FMs unanimously adopted guidelines for the implementation of the DOC.

As Co-chair of the meeting, Vietnam ’s Deputy PM Khiem highly appreciated the progress in the ASEAN-China strategic partnership and stressed the need to continue boosting multifaceted cooperation and deepening the ASEAN-China dialogue ties.

He emphasised the need to speed up the full and effective execution of the DOC for peace, stability and prosperous development in the region.

At the ASEAN-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the FMs pledged to continue effectively implementing the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP). They agreed to soon complete the draft joint declaration on strengthening ASEAN-Japan partnership and the plan of action on ASEAN-Japan strategic partnership for 2011-2015.

At the ASEAN-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the FMs agreed to boost the effective implementation of the plan of action for 2011-2015 and deploy the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.

At the ASEAN-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the two sides stressed the need to continue implementing the Joint Declaration on ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Partnership, the second phase of the ASEAN-Australia cooperation development programme (2008-2015) and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA).

On the sidelines of these events, Vietnamese Deputy PM Khiem attended the Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and had bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of the Philippines, China and Australia./.