Vietnam's hallmarks in 2020

Summarizing the year of Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2020, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that this was a year of comprehensive, complete and substantial success.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the Conference to summarize the Vietnam ASEAN Chairman Year 2020.

Vietnam has flexibly, proactively adapted to the "new normal situation", changed the form of organizing conferences and activities of ASEAN from directly to online, organized online signing of many important documents, including the signing of the RCEP.

Vietnam has also shown its bravery and wisdom in reconciling different views and interests, especially among major countries, thereby ensuring smooth and successful conferences. The dual role of both ASEAN Chairman and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council were promoted well, with the integration of priorities and initiatives, including promoting gender equality and the role of women.

Vietnam's initiatives and priorities have become a common property of the region. Vietnam’s idea of organizing online conferences has become good suggestions for other countries, and the image of the peaceful, stable, and developed ASEAN Community and Vietnam in particularly, have been widely advertised. Many significant and meaningful events and conferences have been actively and successfully implemented by ministries and agencies in many fields from security, defense, diplomacy, economics to culture - society, health, information communication, education, technology...

Overview of the 26th ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting held in Hanoi on June 24

The sucessful hosting of a series of important online conferences has shown successful results in the digital transformation process in Vietnam, a testament to Vietnam's capacity and readiness in digital age.

After 25 years joining ASEAN, Vietnam has become one of the core members, who leads, builds and defines the rules of the game in ASEAN and the region, becoming a firm and reliable prop.

The new position and stature of the Vietnamese State

Looking back to 2020, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh affirmed that the success of the ASEAN Chairman 2020 has indeed contributed to the effective implementation of the foreign policy of the 12th Party Congress, raising the role and international position of Vietnam; helping Vietnam create a firm foothold in ASEAN and in the region; creating opportunities to expand and deepen relations with ASEAN countries and external partners; thereby creating a peaceful and stable international environment with additional support and resources from outside to serve the construction, development and defense of the country.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairman of ASEAN 2020, chaired the 8th ASEAN-US Summit

In recent years, the State of Vietnam has constantly improved internal forces, perfecting the legal system, institutions and policies on human rights, in which the most prominent is the National Assembly's adoption of the Labor Code (amended). ith many new regulations to better ensure the rights of workers, while joining the Convention 98 of the International Labor Organization on the right to collective bargaining.

The results of ensuring human rights in reality of the State of Vietnam are also proved through convincing numbers. According to the UNDP 2018 Report, Vietnam belonged to the group of countries with high average Human Development Index (116 out of 185 countries) and the Gender Equality Index (67 out of 160 countries). A World Bank report also shows that the poverty rate in Vietnam continues to decline, especially among ethnic minorities, with a sharp decline rate of 13%, the largest decline in the past decade.

Vietnam is also determined to work towards a constructive government, serving the people through the quality of public services that is gradually improving. The atmosphere of innovation and creativity is spreading among the people in all regions. Internet and information technology have reached both remote and isolated areas.

That positive movement has made Vietnam’s hallmarks as well as promoted the effectiveness of bilateral human rights dialogue mechanisms between Vietnam and its partners in recent times. The latest evidence is that Vietnam recently conducted Human Rights Dialogues with the European Union, the US and Australia. Particularly, at the Dialogue with Australia, the two countries issued a joint press release for the first time.

Thuy Nguyen