Every step of ASEAN's growth has Vietnam's mark.

With the consistent motto of "proactive, positive and responsible", Vietnam has made many important contributions to the activities and growth of ASEAN.

ASEAN Flag Raising Ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to celebrate the 56th anniversary of ASEAN's founding. (Photo: TA)

Actively participate in building the foundation for the Community

On the occasion of the 56th anniversary of ASEAN's founding (August 8, 1967 - August 8, 2023), Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai - Senior Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at the School of Justice, Faculty of Innovation, Education and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology (Australia) assessed Vietnam's contributions to the strong development of the Association, especially in building the three pillars of the ASEAN Community.

Regarding Vietnam's specific contributions to the building of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community - including the Security-Political Community, the Economic Community, and the Socio-Cultural Community, Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai said that for each community, Vietnam has made specific contributions to realize the goal of building the ASEAN Community and most recently, the Vision for the ASEAN Community to 2025.

Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai. (Source: VNA)

Regarding the ASEAN Political-Security Community, Vietnam has actively participated in the development and adoption of basic documents, which serve as the foundation and orientation for the development and implementation of this community. These documents include the Bali Declaration II (2003) and the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025 (2016).

The core features of the ASEAN Political-Security Community include: A rules-based, people-oriented and people-centred community; a region of peace, security and stability; ASEAN playing a central role in a dynamic and outward-looking region; and strengthening ASEAN's institutional capacity and presence.

According to Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Vietnam has made many contributions to achieving those goals, such as Vietnam's agreement and promotion of compliance with the United Nations (UN) Charter and international law.

This is also consistent with Vietnam's viewpoint when building the ASEAN Charter, which emphasizes the meaning and importance of the UN Charter and international law.

Experts say Vietnam has also done a good job of coordinating ASEAN in bilateral relations between ASEAN and its partners, or representing ASEAN's voice in these forums.

In particular, during its second term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) (2020-2021), Vietnam promoted the organization of the first UNSC discussion session on cooperation between the UN and ASEAN, as well as promoted ASEAN's central role and presence in the UNSC in addressing regional issues.

Vietnam has increasingly participated actively and extensively in resolving non-traditional security issues, mainly through participating in ASEAN and ASEAN-led mechanisms, especially in issues of conflict prevention, counter-terrorism, transnational crime, cyber security, maritime security, rescue and humanitarian assistance.

Firmly develop strong ASEAN economy

Regarding the ASEAN Economic Community, Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai emphasized that Vietnam committed to implementing 95.5% of the commitments in the master plan for building the community, becoming one of the member countries with the highest rate of commitment implementation, only after Singapore.

As ASEAN Chair in 2010, Vietnam successfully called on members to issue a “Declaration on Recovery and Sustainable Development”, affirming their determination to strengthen and build the community. Recently, under Vietnam’s chairmanship as ASEAN Chair 2020, Vietnam successfully promoted the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), creating the world’s largest free trade area with a gross domestic product (GDP) of about 30% of global GDP and a market with 1/3 of the world’s population. All 10 ASEAN member countries participate in RCEP.

In addition, Vietnam is not only a destination for foreign direct investment with a dynamically developing economy, but also a bridge and gateway for investors outside the region to enter ASEAN.

Regarding the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai assessed that Vietnam is the leading country in the region in formulating the idea of ​​a socio-cultural community. As the Chair of ASEAN in 2010, Vietnam proposed and chaired the drafting of two important documents, including the Hanoi Declaration on the Welfare and Development of ASEAN Women and Children and the ASEAN Leaders' Statement on Human Resources and Skills Development for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development, which are considered key priorities of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

In particular, during the 2020 Chairmanship Year, Vietnam has chaired the development of the ASEAN Vision 2025 and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 to be submitted to ASEAN senior leaders for approval. These are preliminary documents, very important for the community development process in the coming time.

According to expert Nguyen Hong Hai, Vietnam's contribution to this community is also demonstrated through the fact that Vietnam has successfully organized many important ministerial-level events of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, including the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Council Meeting in 2010, the ASEAN Youth Ministerial Meeting in 2011, the ASEAN Culture and Arts Ministerial Meeting in 2014, and the ASEAN Health Ministerial Meeting in 2014.

In conclusion, Dr. Nguyen Hong Hai said that Vietnam has applied the motto of "proactive, positive and responsible" to contribute to the activities and growth of ASEAN and this is Vietnam's consistent policy towards the association.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/moi-buoc-lon-manh-cua-asean-deu-co-dau-an-viet-nam-237869.html