Ambassador and head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh (R) at a meeting

As the permanent representative of Vietnam – the Chairman of ASEAN in 2020, themission will preside over about 300 meetings during the year, Ambassador andhead of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN Tran Duc Binh told VietnamNews Agency correspondents in Jakarta. 

The mission will coordinate with Vietnamese agencies in the homeland and theASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to enhance consultation and information sharingwith the group’s member nations through committees and ambassador-levelcooperation mechanisms between ASEAN and partners.

The mission is scheduled to propose the adoption of a regulation or form topromote coordination between ASEAN cooperation channels, and participate innegotiations of cooperation documents between ASEAN and partners.

In 2020, up to seven action plans between ASEAN and its partners such as China,India, New Zealand, Russia, the US and Canada will be built and submitted toministers and senior leaders for approval.

Ambassador Binh highlighted the effective implementation of regionalcooperation, and plans and programmes to build the ASEAN Community over thepast year. He stressed that the group has made important efforts in buildingthe community as well as maintaining its centre role in the region.

According to the diplomat, the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to ASEAN has actively joined ASEAN’s activities in Jakarta and within the framework of theCommittee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN (CPR), and contributed tointra-bloc cooperation, as well as cooperation between the group and itspartners. 

Asa member of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee, the mission tookpart in promoting joint activities. Especially in 2019, the mission andpermanent representatives of other ASEAN member countries worked with the ASEANSecretariat and consultants to issue the list of priority infrastructureprojects, which is a crucial foundation for calling for support from regionaland international financial organisations for ASEAN in developinginfrastructure.

Besides, the mission participated in the Initiative for ASEAN Integration TaskForce, which was proposed and approved by Vietnam in 2000 when it was the chairof the CPR in 2000-2001. This initiative is the basis for ASEAN member nationsto cooperate with each other.
 
The mission coordinated with other permanent representatives of ASEAN countriesin monitoring and promoting cooperation projects between the group and itspartners, as well as in drafting important documents and submitting them toministers and senior leaders for approval. The documents included the ASEAN-EUstatement on cybersecurity cooperation, the ASEAN-Australia Action Plan in2020-2024, and the East Asia Summit’s statement on cooperation to combat drugtrafficking and transnational crime, among others.

Binh said all documents that the mission participated in building showed ASEAN’sstance and Vietnam’s important priorities in promoting ASEAN cooperation.

As the country coordinator of the ASEAN-Japan relations for 2018-2021, themission presided over and carried out many cooperation activities with theJapanese mission to ASEAN as well as with the Japanese Ministry of ForeignAffairs, he noted.

The mission also coordinated with agencies in Vietnam to organise the firstASEAN-Japan Day in Vietnam to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the ASEAN-Japanpartnership, the ambassador said./. VNA