Vietnamese FM attends Asia and Pacific High-level Conference on Belt and Road Cooperation

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (middle) addresses the Asia and Pacific High-level Conference on Belt and Road Cooperation, June 23, 2021

The event drew the attendance of the Colombian President, the Fijian Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, and Minister of Trade from ASEAN member states, and representatives of international organizations.

Themed "Enhance Anti-pandemic Cooperation and Boost Economic Recovery", the meeting focused discussions on challenges faced by the region, especially COVID-19 impacts, and efforts to cope with the pandemic and promote economic recovery, towards developing green and circular economy for sustainable and inclusive growth on both regional and national levels.  

The delegates underlined the necessity to step up information and experience sharing in the fight against the pandemic, expressing support for the COVAX Facility and called on development partners and international organizations to continue assisting developing nations in accessing vaccines at reasonable costs.

They called for strengthening cooperation in vaccine research, development and production technology transfer, and encouraging regional and global financial organizations to provide preferential credits for developing countries to effectively cope with the pandemic.

Addressing the event, FM Bui emphasized the urgent need for all countries to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, revive economies and ensure sustainable development.

Bui called on the international community to continue support for countries, particularly developing nations, to soon push back the COVID-19 pandemic, transform green and circular economy, and expand trade and investment, to promote sustainable and inclusive recovery. 

Multilateral cooperation should be further enhanced to effectively coordinate the COVID-19 fight efforts, beef up transfer of vaccine production technology to ensure fast and timely access to vaccines by all countries, Bui stressed.

He also called for promoting the role of regional cooperative frameworks and initiatives in the region such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Belt and Road Initiative, in facilitating trade, investment, and digital economy development.

By Kim Anh