Vietnamese Ambassador Tran Duc Binh (Photo: VNA)

At the 27th meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council on September 9, ASEAN foreign ministers agreed on Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi’s proposal on appointing Ambassador Binh as the new Deputy Secretary-General.

Earlier, the diplomat had outperformed nearly 20 candidates from other ASEAN countries in several tests.

On the sidelines of the online 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM 53) and related meetings, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Hoang Anh Tuan told the Vietnam News Agency that the selection of Ambassador Binh to the post reflects ASEAN countries’ trust in his knowledge and capacity for handling complex tasks, with him having performed exceptionally as CPR Chair this year when Vietnam is holding the ASEAN chairmanship.

As Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, Binh will be responsible for the implementation of corporate support functions, including administration affairs, human resources, finance and budget, information technology, information resource management, protocol and formalities, legal affairs, and management of cooperation programmes and projects.

With this latest posting, Vietnam will continually have representatives in leadership positions in the ASEAN Secretariat between January 2013 and February 2024: Secretary-General Le Luong Minh (January 2013 - January 2018), Deputy Secretary-General Hoang Anh Tuan (February 2018 - February 2021), and now Deputy Secretary-General Tran Duc Binh (February 2021 - February 2024)./.VNA