ASEAN and Partners commit to joint efforts to overcome crisis

VGP – Speaking at the the ASEAN Plus Three Summit with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, and the ASEAN-India Summit on Saturday afternoon, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng asked all parties to further assist each other to early get out of the global economic and financial crisis.

October 24, 2009 5:22 PM GMT+7

Leaders of ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea gather for the ASEAN Plus Three Summit, Hua Hin, Thailand, October 24, 2009 – Photo : VGP

The Vietnamese PM asserted that, the ASEAN 3 cooperation has broadly developed and become an examplary model for effecitve and dynamic cooperation, which considerably contributes to peace, development, and stability in the region, laying the foundation for regional linkages and the formation of the East Asia Community.

PM Dũng was strongly confident that ASEAN and China, Japan and the RoK would help each other to recover from the global economic crisis and secure sustainable growth in the region.

He noted that the related parties should quickly realize the agreement on multilateralizing the Chiang Mai Initiative, share information and macro-economic and financial policies, and upgrade regional banking system.

The Vietnamese leader also underlined the infrastructure development and communications at bilateral and regional levels in order to facilitate economic linkages in the region.

Mr. Dũng urged ASEAN and the three Northeast Asian partners to join efforts in responding global challenges, particularly food and energy security, environmental degradation, climate change, natural disaster and epidemics.

Leaders of ASEAN and India at the 7th ASEAN-India Summit, Hua Hin, Thailand, October 24, 2009 – Photo : VGP

ASEAN-India: A solid foundation for cooperation and connectivity in Asia

At the 7th ASEAN-India Summit, PM Dũng hailed India’s “Toward East” policy as well as its active participation in settling numerous Asian issues.

The Vietnamese PM suggested the two sides speed up the implementation of agreements, concentrate resources on such prioritized fields as economics, science, IT, biology, pharmacy, and human resource development.

He stated that the signing of the Commodity Trade Agreement between ASEAN and India will facilitate the negotiations for a Free Trade Area.

PM Nguyễn tấn Dũng meets New Zealander counterpart John Key on the sideline of the 15^th ASEAN Summit, Hua Hin, Thailand, October 24, 2009 – Photo : VGP

On the sideline of the 15^th ASEAN Summit and the related summits, PM Dũng had a meeting with his New Zealander counterpart John Key.

PM Dũng emphasized that the Joint Statement on the Việt Nam-New Zealand Comprehensive Partnership released in the official visit made by Party General Secretary Nông Đức Mạnh to New Zealand last month was an important event and urged the two sides to adopt specific action plans to put it into reality.

For his part, PM John Key stated that there remain great potentials for the bilateral cooperation in various fields. He added that the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement which will come into effect in early 2010 will surely be a driving force for the multifaceted cooperation between Việt Nam and New Zealand.

By Xuân Hồng