Hanoi (VNA) - Faced with the negativeimpact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on regional and global economies,including interruptions to supply chains, ASEAN countries are making greater effortsto recover and improve their responsiveness to future risks, Minister ofIndustry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has said.

He told the Vietnam News Agency on May 6 that2020 is a special year for Vietnam as it holds the ASEAN Chairmanship, but COVID-19has significantly hampered trade, investment, production, and cooperation inall countries, including ASEAN members.

He also noted that the outbreak has interruptedsupply chains in, for example, China and the Republic of Korea (RoK), which aremajor suppliers of materials for industries hit hard by the coronavirus, suchas textiles and garments, leather and footwear, wood and wooden products, andelectronics. This has subsequently affected production and exports throughout ASEAN.

As the ASEAN Chair, Vietnam has proactively madeadjustments in response to the outbreak, Anh said.

On February 14, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucissued the ASEAN Chairman’s Statement on the ASEAN Collective Response to theOutbreak of COVID-19. The ASEAN economic ministers’ meeting, the ASEAN-Japaneconomic ministers’ meeting and, most recently, the ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Summitsdevised initiatives and issued statements.

All share the same target of effectivelyresponding to the pandemic and gradually recovering economies, trade, andcooperation frameworks in ASEAN and between the bloc and its partners, Anhadded.

The ministry recently held a number of phone discussionswith officials from Japan, the RoK, Singapore, and many other partners todiscuss cooperation and priorities that require continued implementation.

Anh had a phone discussion with ASEANSecretary-General Lim Jock Hoi on May 6 to look into economic recovery andsupply chain maintenance.

The two sides focused on major issues to preparefor a joint initiative from ASEAN and Japanese economic ministers and a jointstatement on COVID-19 response. They also talked about preparations for jointinitiatives between ASEAN ministers and their counterparts in partner countrieslike Japan, the RoK, and China to cope with the pandemic and revive economiclinks between the bloc and partners, he noted.

The minister added that he and the ASEAN chiefalso exchanged views on the implementation of ASEAN and ASEAN+3 leaders’directions at the summits on COVID-19 held on April 14.

They also discussed common efforts by the ASEANChair and the ASEAN Secretariat to reach consensus on action plans andintegrate joint initiatives with various channels and sectors so as toeffectively revitalise the economies of Vietnam, other members of the bloc, andthe world.

Many weaknesses in ASEAN economies have been exposedby the COVID-19 pandemic. Regional countries are, however, making substantial effortsto adopt new policies to boost connectivity between the bloc and partner nations,thus restructuring supply chains and ensuring a swift and effective response tonew risks in the future, Anh said./.