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| Prime Minister and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the heads of delegations. (Source: VNA) |
On October 20, in the capital Riyadh (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), the first Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) took place after 33 years of establishing relations, with the participation of leaders of ASEAN countries, GCC countries, ASEAN Secretary General and GCC Secretary General.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh led a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend and deliver an important speech at the conference.
At the conference, ASEAN and GCC leaders discussed, reviewed and oriented the future of ASEAN-GCC cooperation; exchanged views on the regional and world situation; acknowledged and approved important documents of the conference, including the cooperation framework between ASEAN and GCC in the 2024-2028 period.
The leaders affirmed the importance of the relationship between the two regional organizations since the establishment of relations in 1990, based on the centuries-old historical and cultural links between the two regions.
ASEAN appreciated that all GCC member states have acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), and welcomed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to become a Sectoral Dialogue Partner of ASEAN from 2022.
Cooperation between ASEAN and the GCC in 2022 continued to progress positively, with total trade turnover reaching 142.25 billion USD, foreign direct investment reaching 523.46 million USD, and the number of GCC tourists to the ASEAN region reaching more than 375,000 people.
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| Overview of the ASEAN-GCC Summit. (Source: VNA) |
Looking to the future, the leaders of ASEAN and GCC countries agreed to maintain regular exchanges, including the plan to periodically hold ASEAN-GCC summits every two years, consolidate and perfect cooperation mechanisms, and promote equal and mutually beneficial cooperation to effectively exploit the huge space and potential for cooperation between the two sides.
The countries emphasized the need to focus on common cooperation in the fields of economic cooperation, trade, investment, ensuring sustainable supply chains, connectivity, maritime cooperation, energy security, food, Halal industry, science, technology and innovation, tourism, labor cooperation, energy transition, climate change response, etc.
Faced with the complex difficulties in the current world and regional situation, the two sides agreed to strengthen multilateral cooperation, promote dialogue and cooperation, build trust, uphold the rule of law, respect independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in each other's affairs, join hands to resolve regional and global challenges, and effectively contribute to peace, security, stability and sustainable development.
The countries affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, freedom of navigation and aviation in the region, and resolving disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The countries expressed concern over recent developments in the Gaza Strip, strongly condemned acts of violence against civilians, and called on all parties to immediately cease fire, end the use of force, respect international humanitarian law, resume negotiations, and resolve disagreements through peaceful means, on the basis of international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, in order to achieve a fair, satisfactory, and lasting solution to the Middle East Peace Process, ensuring the lives, security, and safety of people.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the ASEAN-GCC Summit. (Source: VNA) |
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh spoke highly of the significance of the first summit between ASEAN and the GCC as a historic milestone, and highly appreciated the role of the GCC towards ASEAN.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that ASEAN and the GCC need to join hands to arouse the will to be self-reliant, unleash development resources, and implement practical and effective actions with the highest political determination and drastic actions to make bilateral cooperation make a strong breakthrough in the coming time, becoming a bright spot in regional and global cooperation.
Orienting the relationship, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the two sides need to create more favorable conditions for economy, trade and investment to become the main pillars and driving force connecting the two regions, complementing each other for mutual development and mutual victory, while promoting cooperation for the goal of greener and more sustainable development.
To do that, it is necessary to create conditions for investment funds and businesses of GCC countries to further expand their business investments in ASEAN, and support the presence of more goods and services of ASEAN countries in the Gulf region.
In addition, it is necessary to prioritize cooperation in developing green economy, digital economy, circular economy, sharing economy, sustainable agricultural development, energy transformation, etc. Accordingly, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh suggested promoting 3 connections including: connecting people, culture, labor; connecting trade, investment, tourism; connecting infrastructure, through strategic infrastructure investment.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also stressed the need to quickly institutionalize ASEAN-GCC cooperation through regular, substantive and effective cooperation mechanisms in each specific field. The Prime Minister suggested that as highly successful regional organizations, ASEAN and the GCC should enhance multilateral cooperation and support each other to promote their central role and make practical contributions to peace, stability and development in the two regions and the world.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam strongly opposes all acts of use of force and calls on relevant parties to immediately end acts of violence against civilians, humanitarian facilities and essential infrastructure; at the same time, he emphasized that only negotiation and dialogue, resolving disagreements through peaceful means, reaching a two-state solution on the basis of international law and relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council is the only way to bring sustainable and long-term peace to the Middle East and all parties.
The conference adopted a Joint Statement, reflecting the results of the high-level leaders' discussions and setting out directions for further development of ASEAN-GCC relations in the coming time, for peace, cooperation and mutual development.
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