Hanoi (VNA) – An international workshop wasopened in Hanoi on December 5 under the theme “Sustaining Peace in time ofUncertainties: Towards Greater Regional Resilience and Responsiveness”.

The two-day event, held by the DiplomaticAcademy of Vietnam and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung foundation of Germany, ispart of the 12th general conference of the Council for Security Cooperation inthe Asia-Pacific (CSCAP). It draws more than 200 delegates, including over 100foreign scholars and 35 diplomatic missions in Vietnam.

The workshop takes place amidst the changing andunpredictable international and regional situations, along with the growingstrategic competition among superpowers in the region. It is meant to be aplatform for Vietnamese and foreign scholars and policy makers to assesschallenges and opportunities for countries in maintaining a peaceful, stableand prosperous environment and promoting regional cooperation.

Addressing the seminar, CSCAP co-chairmen Prof.Anthony Milner and former ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said as theworld is in the transitional period, countries should step up building andconsolidating trust so as to cope with increasingly complicated challenges.

Deputy Defence Minister of Malaysia Liew ChinTong said amidst uncertainties in the region and fierce competition amongsuperpowers, the role of middle powers and the centrality of ASEAN have becomemore and more important.

Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister of VietnamNguyen Quoc Dung said the Asia-Pacific is currently a region with the mostdynamic development in the world, but it is also witnessing numeroustraditional and non-traditional security issues, as well as the growingcompetition among superpowers. Therefore, regional countries should enhancecooperation and coordinate their policies to deal with common challenges.

Facing that fact, multilateralism and theenhancement of cooperation in global and regional multilateral mechanisms havebecome the top priority in Vietnam’s foreign policy, he said, noting that alsogiven this, the country commits itself to building a more cohesive andresponsive ASEAN when it holds the bloc’s chairmanship in 2020.

As Vietnam will also serve as a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, it vows to act as a bridgelinking this global organisation with ASEAN for common goals, especiallypreventing conflicts and making sustainable peace, the official added./.