Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung affirmedthat enhancing cooperation to push back COVID-19 and promote comprehensiverecovery remains the top priority, while addressing the ASEAN Plus Three SeniorOfficials’ Meeting held in the form of video conference on June 22.

Dung, who is also head of Vietnam’s ASEAN SOM, calledon China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to share experience in pandemicresponse and help ASEAN improve its COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity andpurchase the vaccines.

ASEAN+3 should work to fruitfully implement the joint statementof the 23rd ASEAN+3 Summit that took place last November, on enhancingASEAN+3 cooperation to improve economic and financial self-reliance in the faceof emerging challenges in the region, he said.

As Chair of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI),Vietnam suggested the three partner countries continue their support to ASEANin narrowing development gaps in its sub-regions, including Mekong, amidstimpact of the pandemic, he said.

Sharing opinions of other countries at the meeting, Deputy FM Dung stressed that ensuring an environment ofpeace, security and stability is the prerequisite condition to facilitateefforts in recovery, growth and sustainable development.

He noted the need to step up dialogues and cooperation,build trust, observe the law, respect and trust each other, and promote mutuallybeneficial cooperation.

At the meeting, delegateshighlighted progress in ASEAN+3 cooperation, especially in coping with theCOVID-19 pandemic, mitigating its socio-economic impact, and promotingcomprehensive recovery and sustainable development.

China, Japan and the RoK pledged to continue theirsupport for ASEAN’s initiatives for COVID-19 prevention and control, help ASEANmember countries raise their capacity for preventive medicine and for the research and development safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine as well as equal access to vaccine.

The ASEAN countries spoke highly of China’s supply of100 million doses of vaccine to ASEAN and its commitments to more supplies to them.

Japan and the RoK have also contributed and committedto providing 1 billion USD and 200 million USD, respectively, for the COVAX AMC mechanism, to provide vaccines for poor anddeveloping nations.

The ASEAN+3 countries pledged to coordinate closely to facilitate tradeand investment links, expand regional connectivity, and gradually remove travelrestrictions between regional countries when possible.

The three partner countries consented to expand collaborationwith the ten-member grouping in new fields such as digital transformation,innovation technology, financial technology, e-commerce, green recovery andgrowth, to ease socio-economic impact and spur sustainable recovery.

They also pledged to continue promoting tradeliberalisation, and regional economic connectivity, and to early ratify and implementthe Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)./.