>>> ASEAN moves firmly, collectively ahead: FM Pham Binh Minh
Vietnam has been successful in managing and organising all the meetings, he affirmed in a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Tokyo.
This year is quite special in the sense that all the countries have been suffering from the pandemic. But, as a successful country in terms of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam can take the lead in not only surviving but also becoming stronger, he stated.
The official emphasised the importance of actions taken by the Vietnam Government to boost post-pandemic economic recovery, adding that this is a “good opportunity for Vietnam to show how to get stronger”.
As Chair of ASEAN in 2020, Vietnam has done well in ensuring that the bloc has continued to meet and perform in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Malaysian experts.
In a recent interview granted to Vietnam News Agency’s correspondents in Malaysia, Dr. Hoo Chiew Ping, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies and International Relations under the National University of Malaysia said the year 2020 is greatly disrupted by the global COVID-19 crisis, which was a challenge to Vietnam when it faced the second wave of the pandemic outbreak. However, the country once again contained the outbreak successfully, and this leads to Vietnam being the only ASEAN member state that achieved GDP growth this year, she noted.
According to her, digitalising cooperation tracks is another challenge under Vietnam's ASEAN chairmanship, as the region and the world need to maintain regional interactions and cooperation as usual under the hurdles of social traffic disruption.
Given the sustained ASEAN dialogues and meetings, and the fact that several summits with ASEAN dialogue partners are going to be held alongside the ASEAN Summit week, it shows Vietnam's tremendous leadership in fostering intra-ASEAN communication while maintaining the bloc’s partnership with external partners, she said.
Sharing Hoo Chiew Ping’s opinion, Dr. Ngeow Chow Bing, Director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya, said given the sudden emergence of the pandemic, Vietnam has done well in its own response, and in preparing the various contingencies facing ASEAN.
During an interview with the Vietnam News Agency's correspondents in Jakarta, Indonesian senior journalist Veeramalla Anjaiah voiced his hope that the 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings will bring about positive results.
“It was a big success for Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship. Throughout the year, all ASEAN meetings and summits were held virtually. Many of Vietnam’s targets have been achieved so far,” said the journalist.
Another important achievement of Vietnam is maintaining ASEAN unity and solidarity. Vietnam’s ASEAN Chair theme “Cohesive and Responsive” is relevant and timely.
Despite of the challenges and problems from COVID-19, Vietnam successfully led ASEAN throughout the year, he said.
