Hanoi (VNA) – The Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held a Joint Consultative Meeting (JCM) inSingapore on October 15 and 16 to prepare for the 33rd ASEAN Summitand related meetings.

The Vietnamese delegation to themeeting was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of SOMVietnam.

Participants discussed and basicallyreached agreement on the working programme and agenda of the summit, as well asthe list of documents to be submitted to the high-ranking leaders.

About 12 meetings of ASEANleaders and between ASEAN and partners (China, Japan, the Republic of Korea,India, Australia, Russia, the United Nations and invited guests such as theEuropean Union, Canada, the International Monetary Fund and Chile) arescheduled to be held on the occasion of the 33rd summit. Anestimated 60 documents will be approved or acknowledged, with their contentcovering many important areas in ASEAN cooperation, cooperation between ASEAN andpartners, and regional and international issues of common concern.

Chair Singapore updatedparticipants on the pace of implementation of initiatives and priorities ofASEAN in 2018, including the ASEAN smart city network, the 2018 Southeast AsiaCounter-Terrorism Symposium, and the implementation of the ASEAN Leaders’Statement on Cybersecurity Cooperation adopted at the 32nd ASEANSummit in Singapore in April this year.

The JCM also heard reports ofthe ASEAN Secretariat and related agencies on ASEAN connectivity, coordinationof issues across ASEAN pillars and the integration of ASEAN Community Vision to2025 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Countries applauded Singapore’s effortsin promoting cooperative initiatives under the year’s theme, and affirmed thatthey would coordinate closely with the Chair country to effectively realise theyear’s priority goals.

At the SOM Plus Three (China,Japan and the Republic of Korea) and countries participating in the East AsiaSummit (EAS), participants gave opinions on the drafts of documents to besubmitted to the ASEAN 3 Summit and the EAS. They discussed increasingcooperation in cyber-security, counter-terrorism, fighting marine plastic pollutionand building smart cities, while proposing directions to bring the ASEAN+3 andEAS processes forward.

The partner countries affirmedthat they would actively contribute to meetings in the framework of theupcoming 33rd ASEAN Summit, with many new initiatives on cooperationwith ASEAN to be announced.

Vietnam’s Deputy ForeignMinister Nguyen Quoc Dung said Vietnam will join other ASEAN members insupporting Chair Singapore to successfully organize the 33rd ASEANSummit and related meetings, in order to concretise priorities in building aresilient and innovative ASEAN Community in 2018.

He also contributed opinions tothe content of high-level meetings, including the preparation for theCommemorative Summit marking the 45th anniversary of ASEAN-Japanpartnership. Vietnam, which is the coordinator of ASEAN-Vietnam relations, willchair discussions at the summit.-VNA