Hanoi (VNA) – The 36th ASEAN Summit, the firstofficial top-level meeting of the regional bloc in 2020 when Vietnam serves asthe ASEAN Chair, will take place online on June 26 under the chair of PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

During the meeting, ASEAN leaders are scheduled to review thebuilding of the ASEAN Community since the 35th summit, and discussthe implementation of priorities for this year as well as the grouping’sexternal affairs in the time ahead. They will also exchange views on regionaland international issues of shared concern.

In this special circumstance, the leaders will focus on the fightagainst the COVID-19 pandemic and how to enhance the bloc’s recovery capacity.

The summit brings together leaders of nations and ministries incharge of politics-security, culture-society, and economy from the 10 ASEANmember countries, ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi, heads of ASEAN SeniorOfficials’ Meeting (SOM) and ambassadors, among others.

It will feature a special session of the ASEAN leaders on women’sempowerment in the digital age initiated by Vietnam to mark the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

The session aims to affirm the ASEANleaders’ commitment to fully and effectively implementing goals set in theBeijing Declaration and Platform for Action, promoting gender equality andimproving women’s role in socio-economic development and ASEAN cooperation.

Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, NewZealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi, and Executive Secretary of the United NationsEconomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Armida Alisjahbana areinvited to the event.

There will be a dialogue between leaders of the ASEANcountries and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) led by Ngan, who isalso the President of AIPA-41. NA Vice Chairwoman Tong ThiPhong, head of the Vietnamese delegation to AIPA, will attend the dialogue.

Duringthe event, the ASEAN leaders and AIPA representatives will seek ways to enhancecoordination between the two organisations in building the ASEAN Communitytowards the people and for the people.

Theleaders will also hold a dialogue with ASEAN youths on promoting the role ofthe latter in the community building.

Inanother dialogue, representatives of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC)are scheduled to present recommendations of the business community to the ASEANleaders, in order to promote enterprises’ participation, and investment-tradefreedom and facilitation in the region and the world.

TheASEAN leaders are expected to adopt the ASEAN Chair Statement on the outcomesof the 36th ASEAN Summit, a visionstatement on ASEAN’s cohesion and proactive adaptation, and an ASEAN declarationon human resources development for the changing world of work.

The 36th ASEAN Summit offers an opportunity forVietnam and the other ASEAN member countries to continue seeking measures tobuild the ASEAN Community, strengthen solidarity and unity, enhance mutualsupport, improve cooperation efficiency and focus on implementing prioritiesand initiatives in 2020, while improving ASEAN’s proactiveness in response toregional and international challenges, including COVID-19./.