Vietnam attends the ASEAN-RoK joint cooperation committee’s meeting  (Photo: VNA)

At the virtual meeting, participants highly valued the practical cooperation in all areas over the past time, and acknowledged positive results in implementing the Programme of Action (PoA) between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in the 2016-2020 period.

Representatives from ASEAN member countries appreciated RoK's effective cooperation and support for the bloc for many years through the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF), as well as the country’s active contributions to the bloc in narrowing the development gap, developing human resources, training in information technology, and in the fields of health care, environmental protection, forest management, and disaster relief, especially in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants highlighted the role played by the ASEAN-Korea Centre and the ASEAN Cultural House in recent years, saying that they serve as a bridge to promote investment and trade cooperation and cultural and tourism exchange between ASEAN member countries and the RoK.

They also emphasised the RoK's effective support for bilateral cooperation programmes and projects through the ASEAN-RoK Economic Cooperation (AKEC) Fund.

The Korean side affirmed its support for multilateral cooperation, saying that it attaches importance to the relations with ASEAN and supports the group to promote its central role in the regional cooperation and integration.

It also committed to actively participating in and contributing to ASEAN's key regional cooperation mechanisms and forums such as ASEAN 1, APT, EAS, ARF and ADMM , while wishing to expand its cooperation with the group in implementing the ASEAN Perspectives Document on the Indo-Pacific.

The country proposed to soon establish an ASEAN-Korea travel corridor to facilitate investors in the region, and pledged to continue its supports for ASEAN in the bloc’s efforts to mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides asserted their commitment to further strengthening the ASEAN-RoK strategic partnership and effectively implementing the Joint Declaration of senior leaders, including the joint vision statement for peace, prosperity and partnership.

They agreed to work closely in implementing the PoA for the 2021-2025 period, with priority given to activities and projects to support ASEAN to successfully implement its goals of community building./.VNA