Southeast Asian diplomats hail Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship
Vietnam, as the ASEAN Chair in 2020, has made tireless efforts in cultivating solidarity and unity that enable the bloc to surmount challenges, according to ASEAN ambassadors in South Africa.
At the meeting of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee on September 23 (Photo: VNA)
Pretoria (VNA) – Vietnam, as the ASEAN Chair in 2020, has madetireless efforts in cultivating solidarity and unity that enable the bloc tosurmount challenges, according to ASEAN ambassadors in South Africa.
They made the appraisal while attending a meeting of the ASEAN PretoriaCommittee (APC) chaired by Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Van Loi on September 23.This was the first meeting of APC members in six months as South Africa appliedsocial distancing measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thai Ambassador Komate Kamalanavin affirmed Vietnam has done a great job inleading the region to deal with the coronavirus. He also hailed Vietnam’ssupport to several ASEAN member states and dialogue partners in response to theoutbreak.
Sharing the view with the Thai diplomat, Malaysian Ambassador Mohamad NizanB.Mohamad said he was impressed by Vietnam’s responsibility in leading ASEAN toovercome common challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic – now considered asthe global crisis.
In addition, the ASEAN ambassadors spoke highly of Loi as the APC Chairman,saying he has coordinated the committee’s activities in an effective mannerafter he took over the position in a very short time.
At the event, Ambassador Loi informed the APC members of the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-53) and related meetings’ outcomes,highlighting major achievements.
Regarding the ASEAN-South Africa relations, Loi said theVietnamese and South African foreign ministries are preparing procedures forSouth Africa to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) on the sidelinesof the 37th ASEAN Summit in November./.
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The 72nd meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) and related meetings are being held by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of Vietnam in the central city of Da Nang on April 22-26.
Enhancing regional food security and tackling the pressing challenges of climate change will be key agendas defining Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (lower house) Johari Abdul told the press on April 19.
At the meeting of the ASEAN Pretoria Committee on September 23 (Photo: VNA) 
