Vientiane (VNA) – Leaders of ASEAN and partner countries including China, the Republic of Korea and Japan have reiterated their commitment to promoting sustainable development cooperation at the 1🐼9th ASEAN Plus Three (ASEAN+3) Summit in Vientiane, Laos.

In a Joint Statement adopted at the summit on September 8, the leaders reaffirmed to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, approved at the UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in New York and the Paris Agreement, adopted at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, France. They also pledged to fulfill 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next decades in ASEAN+3 cooperation framework, and called on all the countries to take comprehensive, expeditious and concrete actions to advance the implementation of SDGs in the spirit of equality, cooperation and inclusiveness, as well as strengthen regional and international partnership in the implementation process. They declared to embark on a course of equitable, inclusive, open, all-round and innovation-driven development in the interest of ASEAN+3. Concrete actions will be taken such as reducing poverty, narrowing development gaps between countries, and promote sustainable development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSEMEs), tourism cooperation and cultural exchanges. ASEAN+3 was established in the late 1990s when ASEAN countries decided to enhance collaboration with key Asian economies in the context of global economic downturn. It has now developed into a mechanism to reinforce cooperation in East Asia, especially in the fields of socio-economy and politics./.-VNA