Jakarta (VNA) – Head of the Vietnamese mission to ASEAN Ambassador Tran Duc Binh on October 19 attendedthe 7th meeting of ASEAN-KoreaJoint Cooperation Committee (AKJCC), which discussed measures to strengthencooperation between the two sides in the time to come.

At the virtual meeting, participants highly valued the practical cooperation inall areas over the past time, and acknowledged positive results in implementingthe Programme of Action (PoA) betweenASEAN and the Republic of Korea (RoK) inthe 2016-2020 period.

Representatives from ASEAN member countries appreciated RoK's effectivecooperation and support for the bloc for many years through the ASEAN-KoreaCooperation Fund (AKCF), as well as the country’s active contributions to thebloc in narrowing the development gap, developing human resources, training ininformation technology, and in the fields of health care, environmentalprotection, forest management, and disaster relief, especially in responding tothe COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants highlighted the role played by the ASEAN-Korea Centre and theASEAN Cultural House in recent years, saying that they serve as a bridge topromote investment and trade cooperation and cultural and tourism exchangebetween ASEAN member countries and the RoK.

They also emphasised the RoK's effective support for bilateral cooperationprogrammes and projects through the ASEAN-RoK Economic Cooperation (AKEC) Fund.

The Korean side affirmed its support for multilateralcooperation, saying that it attaches importance to the relations with ASEAN andsupports the group to promote its central role in the regional cooperation andintegration.

It also committed to actively participating in and contributing to ASEAN's keyregional cooperation mechanisms and forums such as ASEAN 1, APT, EAS, ARF andADMM , while wishing to expand its cooperation with the group in implementing the ASEANPerspectives Document on the Indo-Pacific.

The country proposed to soon establish an ASEAN-Korea travelcorridor to facilitate investors in the region, and pledged to continue its supportsfor ASEAN in the bloc’s efforts to mitigate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two sides asserted their commitment to further strengthening the ASEAN-RoK strategicpartnership and effectively implementing the Joint Declaration of seniorleaders, including the joint vision statement for peace, prosperity and partnership.

They agreed to work closely in implementing the PoAfor the 2021-2025 period, with priority given to activities and projects to supportASEAN to successfully implement its goals of community building./.