Jakarta (VNA) – Ambassador Vu Ho, Acting Head of ASEAN SO🦄M Vietnam, on March 7-8 led a delegation to attend the 35th ASEAN-US Dialogue, the25th ASEAN-India Senior Officials’ Meeting (AISOM), the ASEANPlus Three Senior Officials’ Meeting (with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea)and SOM East Asia Summit (with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, India,Australia and New Zealand).

Participants to the meetings reviewed andagreed on the orientation of cooperation between ASEAN and its partners andreviewed the preparation for the Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the summits between ASEAN and its partners in 2023. ASEAN countries proposedpartners step up cooperation and effectivelysupport ASEAN in building the community, contributing to peace, stability andcommon prosperity in the region. The partners reaffirmed their support forASEAN's central role in leading dialogue and cooperation in the region,committed to participating and constructively contributing to ASEAN-ledmechanisms, and shaping a region of open, inclusive, transparent, and based oninternational law.

The ASEAN partners proposed a variety of broad and diversecooperation measures. The US and India were committed to working with ASEAN toeffectively implement the new comprehensive strategicpartnerships established in the past year.

Within the framework ofASEAN 3 and East Asia Summit, the partners proposed promoting market opening and trade liberalisation, ensuring smooth economic - trade - investment, and expanding cooperation in digital transformation, energy, food security, green andsustainable development and response to climate change. They also proposed strengthening regionalhealth capacity against future epidemic risks, creating🧸 conditions forexpanding people-to-people exchanges and connectivity after the pandemic. Atthe same time, members were committed to devoting resources to sub-regional cooperation andnarrowing the gap in ASEAN.

Regardingregional and international issues of common concern, the countries emphasised thatthe complex and unpredictable developments in the geopolitical and geo-economicpicture in the region posed great challenges for ASEAN as well as cooperationmechanisms chaired by ASEAN. Accordingly,ASEAN and its partners need to maintain dialogues, build trust, comply withinternational law, the values and principles of the United Nations Charter,the ASEAN Charter, and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). The partners need to restrain,avoiding disagreements and conflicts that affect the atmosphere of dialogue andcooperation efforts in the region. ASEAN welcomed the partners to support the ASEANPerspectives on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) and effectively implement cooperationin the region. Thepartners supported the role and efforts of ASEAN over the past time inassisting Myanmar to find a feasible and sustainable solution to the currentcrisis through the implementation of the 5-Point Consensus of ASEAN leaders; and reaffirmed their support for the principled stance of ASEAN on the East Sea,fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties inthe East Sea (DOC) and soon developing a Code of Conduct of Parties in the EastSea (COC) that is effective and practical, in line with international law,including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS).  Speakingat these meetings, Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Ho pointed out the priorities andmeasures of cooperation between ASEAN and partners including the US, India,ASEAN 3 and East Asia cooperation. Heemphasised the need to promote appropriate strengths and resources toaccelerate the recovery and growth in the region, narrow thedevelopment gap and develop sub-regions including the Mekong sub-region. Regardingthe East Sea, Ho reaffirmedASEAN's principled stance, emphasised the importance of complying withinternational law and 1982 UNCLOS; and supported the full and effectiveimplementation of the DOC and the promotion of negotiations to build an effective andpracatical COC in accordance with international law and 1982 UNCLOS. TheAmbassador emphasised that ASEAN and China have promoted the COC negotiation process in 2023, showing the determination of the parties to buildtrust, towards building the East Sea into a sea of peace and cooperation. Indonesia, Chair of ASEAN 2023, announced that it will organise the ForeignMinisterial Meetings between ASEAN and its partners in July 2023 and the summits between ASEAN and its partners in September 2023./.