Diplomats at the online consultation between ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee and partners on August 26 (Photo: VNA) Jakarta (VNA) – The ASEAN ConnectivityCoordinating Committee held an online consultation with dialogue partners andother partners on August 26 under the chair of Ambassador Tran Duc Binh, headof Vietnam’s delegation to ASEAN.
Partner countries highly valued the progress inthe implementation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 despiteCOVID-19 caused difficulties facing many projects.
Ambassadors of ASEAN’s partners, including theUS, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Germany, Canada, NewZealand and Norway, applauded the bloc’s efforts in enhancing connectivitywithin ASEAN, as well as between the bloc and partners.
They affirmed that their countries will continueassisting ASEAN to implement projects within the MPAC 2025 in particular andconnectivity projects in general, such as the US-supported ASEAN Single Window,the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship Programme, and the Japan-supportedASEAN Smart Cities Network, so as to promote the connectivity in the ASEANCommunity building, between the bloc and partners, and in regional economicrecovery and development.
At the consultation, participants also discussedmeasures to bolster the MPAC 2025 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, affirming thatthe strategic areas in this master plan highly match the post-COVID-19 recoveryplan of ASEAN.
They underlined the need to strengthen thecoordination and connectivity between the MPAC 2025 and some connectivityinitiatives of partners, and to step up the implementation of statementsbetween the bloc and its partners, including the ASEAN Plus Three Leaders’Statement on Connecting the Connectivities Initiatives, the Joint Statement of the22nd ASEAN-Japan Summit on Connectivity, and the ASEAN-China Statement onSynergising the MPAC 2025 and the Belt and Road Initiative.
The MPAC is a strategic plan adopted by ASEANleaders in Hanoi in October 2010, aiming to bolster connectivity within thebloc, along with between ASEAN and partners, towards a seamlessly connectedASEAN community. Regional leaders approved the MPAC 2025 in Vientiane, Laos, inSeptember 2016 with a vision of creating a seamlessly andcomprehensively connected and integrated ASEAN./.
VNA
