During the visit, the Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc joined in the review of work done by ASEAN and partners, and the compilation of documents for ASEAN’s activities.

At all 11 summits held from September 6-8, PM Phuc delivered speeches proposing practical measures to further deepen ASEAN cooperation and ties between ASEAN and partners, as well as asserting Vietnam’s stance on regional and global issues of shared concern.

He expressed serious concern over the recent complicated developments in the East Sea, noting that Vietnam advocates efforts to steer the situation in the region in a direction that benefits peace, cooperation and development. He called on partners to continue working to maintain peace, stability, security, maritime and aviation safety and freedom in the waters, and urged parties concerned to exercise self-restraint, avoid acts that complicate the situation, refrain from the use of force or threat to use force, settle disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, effectively implement by the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and work for the early formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

The government leader hailed ASEAN-China agreement on adopting the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) in the East Sea, the launch of hotlines among foreign ministries to address emergencies at sea.

He called for the completion of the COC next year on the occasion of the 15 th anniversary of the signing of the DOC and the 50 th founding anniversary of ASEAN.

Regarding the outcomes of the just-concluded ASEAN Summits and related meetings, Deputy Minister Trung said participants lauded positive achievements made by ASEAN in its first year of formation via the active and effective implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2025 and blueprints in all three pillars.

ASEAN leaders discussed measures to effectively carry out the ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint 2025 as the prerequisite for the sustainable development of each member countries and the ASEAN Community.

In the economic field, ASEAN leaders and partners made specific commitments to further facilitating trade and investment, creating favourable business climate and improving ASEAN’s business competitiveness.

In socio-culture, they adopted the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 and the third phase of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration Work Plan, while agreeing to combine the implementation of the ASEAN Vision 2025 and the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.

On external relations, the summits acknowledged strong and practical development of ties between ASEAN and its 11 dialogue partners and seven strategic partners which are China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India, the US, Australia and New Zealand.

All partners pledged to support ASEAN in enhancing linkages and regional connectivity, narrowing development gap, coping with common challenges in the region and the world. They also expressed support for ASEAN’s central role in the region.

Meanwhile, ASEAN proposed focusing cooperation on trade, investment, finance, sustainable development, small and medium-sized enterprises, culture, people-to-people exchange, and response to trans-national challenges.

As regards regional and global issues of shared concern, participating countries vowed to increase coordination, share experience, and enhance capacity of coping with challenges regarding terrorism, extreme violence, maritime security, cyber crime, human trafficking, climate change and epidemic diseases.

Leaders underscored the importance of maintaining peace, security, stability and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, considering it a prerequisite condition for cooperation and development.

Concluding the events, nearly 50 agreements were signed, adopted or acknowledged.

Deputy Minister Trung also hailed the role of Laos as the host country in ensuring the success of the summits and related meetings.

VNA