Vietnam supports efforts to reinforce trust building and cooperation
for peace, stability, maritime security and safety in the East Sea ,
Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh has affirmed.
Speaking at an ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting, the first in the series
of activities during the 46th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-46), held
on June 28 in Brunei’s capital of Banda Seri Begawan, Deputy FM Vinh
highly valued ASEAN’s efforts in building its community, expanding
cooperation with its partners and promoting the group’s central role in
cooperation for peace, stability, development, and effective response to
emerging challenges.
In the context of unpredictable
developments in the region and the world such as the East Sea and Korean
Peninsula issues, the Vietnamese official stressed that as peace,
stability, maritime security and safety in the East Sea are the common
concern and interest of all countries, the whole region and all
countries need to spare no effort to reach the goals.
ASEAN should further uphold its existing tools and mechanisms such as
the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), the Declaration on
the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the ASEAN Regional
Forum (ARF), and realise commitments in the ASEAN-China Action Plan
for the 2011-2015 period on respecting and implementing the DOC in a
full and effective manner.
At the meeting, the
officials reviewed final preparations for the AMM 46 and relevant
ministerial meetings between ASEAN and partners slated for June 28-July
2, focusing on the agenda and list of events to be adopted at these
meetings.
Under the agenda, AMM-46 and relevant
meetings will focus discussions on urgent issues for the ASEAN
development, including the implementation of plans to accelerate the
formation of the ASEAN Community by 2015.
ASEAN
senior officials will submit to their ministers a plan to review the
5-year implementation of the ASEAN Charter as a foundation for the
reshuffle of the grouping’s apparatus with three pillars, namely the
Political-Security Community, the Economic Community and the
Socio-Cultural Community.
The agenda will highlight
the role of the ASEAN Secretariat, expand and deepen relations with
partners and increase their involvement in the building of the regional
architecture as well as measures to consolidate and maintain the central
role of ASEAN in the region.-VNA