Flag raising ceremony marks 50 years of ASEAN

VGP - An ASEAN flag raising ceremony celebrating the bloc’s 50th founding anniversary (August 8) and 22 years of Viet Nam’s membership in the association was held in Ha Noi

August 08, 2017 11:00 AM GMT+7

The event was attended by Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep, and Vice Chairman of the Ha Noi People’s Committee Nguyen Van Suu and others.

Foreign guests at the ceremony included head of the diplomatic corps in Ha Noi and Ambassador of Venezuela Jorge Rondon Uzcategui, and Ambassadors and embassy representatives of the ASEAN member countries and ASEAN partner countries in the capital city.

The flag hosting ceremony at the same time in the 10 ASEAN countries shows countries’ determination to uphold to the bloc’s principles of solidarity, consensus, activeness, and flexibility in dealing with issues on its development path, particularly challenges to regional peace, stability, security, and development.

The flag raising ceremony on the annual anniversary of ASEAN has become a tradition for all ASEAN member countries, reflecting the respect for the bloc’s common value and commitment to regional people.

ASEAN was established on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Bangkok Declaration. The founding countries of ASEAN were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Brunei Darussalam then joined on January 7, 1984, Viet Nam on July 28, 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on July 23, 1997, and Cambodia on April 30, 1999, making up ASEAN today of ten member states.

By Vien Nhu