Dprk usa summit

The Hanoitimes – The summit will take place at a time when the coronavirus outbreaks are sweeping across the globe and some ASEAN countries have become hotspots.

The 36th ASEAN Summit will be held online on June 26 amid the still severe global health crisis, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a virtual ASEAN meeting in Apirl, 2020. Photo: MOFA

Top leaders of Vietnam – the 2020 ASEAN Chair – including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will preside over a number of sessions.

Specifically, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will chair the opening, plenary, and special sessions on women’s empowerment in digital age; dialogues between ASEAN leaders and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), ASEAN youth representatives and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will represent Vietnam to deliver a speech at the special session on women’s empowerment in digital age. Meanwhie, NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, head of the Vietnamese delegation to AIPA, will attend the dialogue between ASEAN leaders and AIPA.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh will preside over the ministerial meeting of participating countries in negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), while Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung will chair the 23rd meeting of the ASEAN Cultural-Social Community Council.

Before the virtual conference, Vietnam will hold a series of preparatory meetings on June 22-24.

The Hanoitimes – Hanoi is preparing for the summit that has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

As the chair of ASEAN 2020, Vietnam is preparing for the hosting of the 36th ASEAN Summit at the end of June, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.

The 36th ASEAN Summit is slated for end-June

The summit was originally scheduled to take place on April 8-9, but was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“Vietnam is consulting ASEAN members to ensure the success of the hosting,” Deputy Spokesperson Doan Khac Viet of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at an online press conference on May 28.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 19 sent a letter to leaders of ASEAN member states and New Zealand on rescheduling the 36th ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN-New Zealand Leaders’ Summit.

Vietnam chairs the ASEAN at a time when the health crisis hit every part of the world, circulating a rumor that the country might have an extra year for its chairmanship.

Foreign ministry Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said on May 14 that there had been no suggestion among ASEAN members on the extension of Vietnam’s chairmanship.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at an online ASEAN meeting in April. Source: MOFA

David Hutt wrote for the Diplomat that several Southeast Asia commentators suggested it could be a good idea. For starters, there was much anticipation that Vietnam could significantly improve ASEAN’s capabilities this year.

It has an increasingly competent and assertive foreign ministry, and has played a far more active role in international affairs in recent years, such as hosting the US – North Korea peace talks in February 2019. Vietnam also holds a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2020 and 2021.

Vietnam set itself five objectives this year, mainly to do with strengthening regional unity, connections, and partnerships. While some are still achievable, especially given the prowess of Vietnam’s foreign diplomacy, most will have to be inherited by the next ASEAN chair.

The Hanoitimes – Covid-19 helped the countries to tap into the domestic market potential and that of other markets in the bloc.

Enhancing intra-regional economic links is always a big challenge for ASEAN nations, Vietnam included, but the 10-member bloc will gradually find solutions towards strengthening internal cooperation, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung has stated.

ASEAN countries will gradually find solutions towards strengthening cooperation among the parties, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said. Photo: The gioi & Viet Nam

At a press conference on the 36th ASEAN Summit on June 23, Deputy Minister Dung said that compared to the EU, intra-ASEAN trade is modest, accounting for only around 20% of the bloc’s total trade.

“ASEAN countries still want to strengthen intra-regional economy, but due to the structure of goods, business practices, and cooperation with partners, economic cooperation with partners outside of the bloc is much more extensive than within the bloc,” said Dung.

ASEAN leaders have agreed on the need to further promote intra-regional economic links. Covid-19 has helped the countries tap into the domestic market potential as well as that of other markets in the bloc, according to Deputy Minister Dung.

In order to strengthen intra-regional economic links, the ASEAN countries need to find solutions for sharing and cooperation, including issues related to tariffs and non-tariff barriers which aim to protect domestic trade.

This is also the issue that needs to be settled to further promote intra-regional economic cooperation. However, it depends on the interests of businesses and each country, so this is not a simple issue, Dung added.

Enhancing intra-ASEAN economic and trade links in line with the theme “cohesive and responsive” is one of the priorities of Vietnam as ASEAN chair in 2020.

According to domestic and international experts and policy makers, the potential of intra-ASEAN cooperation is huge. The region has come up with significant initiatives and commitments to promote intra-regional links.

Currently, most of tariffs among ASEAN countries are zero while investment and services are promoted. ASEAN is also moving towards multilateral trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The 36th ASEAN Summit will be held online on June 26 as Covid-19 outbreaks are sweeping across the globe, including Southeast Asia.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will chair the opening and the plenary sessions, and the special sessions on women’s empowerment in digital age; dialogues between ASEAN leaders and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), ASEAN youth representatives and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).

The Hanoitimes – Strong commitment to better partnership between ASEAN and its partners will be the focus of the last summit this year.

A Vietnamese senior diplomat has said the upcoming 37th ASEAN Summit would focus on evaluating the bloc’s internal and external affairs and future oritentations.

Leaders of ASEAN member states at the 35th ASEAN Summit in Thailand in 2019. Photo: Thong Nhat

The event will include the 37th ASEAN Summit, with the participation of top ASEAN leaders, and 20 related summits showing the 10-member bloc’s strong commitment to partnership between ASEAN and its partners, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the ASEAN SOM of Vietnam, said at a press conference on Monday.

Indeed, the summits, set to take place in Hanoi on November 12-15, will include a series of virtual meetings: 23rd ASEAN-China Summit, 23rd ASEAN-Japan Summit, 21st ASEAN-ROK Summit, 17th ASEAN-India Summit, ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) 2020, 2nd Mekong-ROK Summit, 12th Mekong-Japan Summit, 8th ASEAN-US Summit, ASEAN-New Zealand Leaders’ Summit, and Second ASEAN-Australia Biennial Summit.

In addition, they include 23rd ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit, 15th East Asia Summit (EAS), 11th ASEAN-UN Summit, ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit, and 4th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will preside over the 37th ASEAN Summit, host the 12th Mekong-Japan Summit and the 2nd Mekong-Korea Summit.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and State President Nguyen Phu Trong is expected to attend and deliver a welcoming speech.

Strong partnership

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Dung said the new wave of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact the economic recovery while uncertainties in the regional and global major power competition together with traditional and non-traditional security issues are posing threats to regional stability.

“The summit is believed to be an opportunity for ASEAN leaders to show their strong commitment to maintaining cooperation and response to the Covid-19 pandemic and reinforcing the ASEAN Centrality in the face of a complicated and unpredictable situation globally,” Mr. Dung said.

The 37th ASEAN Summit, the last summit under the Vietnam Chair, is expected to witness the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region between the ten ASEAN member states namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and five of their partners: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Mr. Dung said the negotiations for the signing have completed and the negotiating parties are finalizing internal procedures for the signing. If the internal procedures of all countries are completed in time, the signing will take place on November 15.

Regarding external policies with the US in the context of the country’s recent presidential election, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Dung said ASEAN always welcomes the US to play an important role in the region, to make responsible and constructive contributions, to shape the rules-based regional order, as well as contribute to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region. He added that the four-decade ASEAN-US relationship has a steady foundation for the development in the future.

“We believe that any US president will support this trend in the ASEAN-US relations over the past years and ASEAN’s expectation to push up the strategic partnership for the common interests that not only benefits ASEAN but the US,” the Vietnamese diplomat said.

In terms of common response to the pandemic, the ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund has received a donation of US$10 million from ASEAN member states and partners. The ASEAN Center for Emerging Diseases Response will also be announced on this occasion.