Vietnam’s Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has hailed the outcomes of
the 46 th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-46) and related meetings in
Brunei’s capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan, from June 29 – July
2.
The Foreign Minister told a Vietnam News Agency
correspondent in an interview that the meetings reviewed and proposed
solutions for the implementation of ASE AN cooperation priorities
within the bloc and in external relations, with the focus on keeping
ASEAN Community building on schedule.
They discussed
strengthening regional connectivity in parallel with enhancing relations
with ASEAN partners, and exchanged regional and international issues of
common concern.
The AMM-46 Joint Communiqué, agreed
upon by ASE AN countries, not only maps out the regional grouping’s
prioritised orientations until 2015, but the vision and development
process over the next decades.
Minister Minh said the
meetings took place in the context of great opportunities for regional
peace, stability and development cooperation despite concurrent security
and economic challenges.
Most importantly, ASEAN will
continue to maintain and strengthen its solidarity and unity on
internal and external issues as well as regional and international
issues of common concern.
ASEAN will also reinforce
and deepen its ties with partners, hailing their participation in
regional connectivity, actively contributing to common goals of regional
peace, stability and development, and the building of an ASEAN
Community.
All partners backed ASEAN’s central role in
dealing with regional issues as well as in the frameworks of ASEAN Plus
One, ASEAN Plus Three, East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF), and ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) among
others.
The FM said the East Sea issue involved many
concerned parties at the meetings. They all attached importance to
peace, security, safety and free navigation in the East Sea .
Seeing many complicated developments in the East Sea, almost all
participants suggested relevant parties refrain from using or
threatening to use force, settle disputes by peaceful means and
implement reached commitments in accordance with international law,
especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS 1982) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East
Sea (DOC).
Regional countries and partners emphasised
the need to build a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), hailing a
Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) COC exchange agreed upon by ASEAN and
China, towards a COC reached by the two sides.
Referring to Vietnam’s contributions to the success of the meetings,
FM Minh said Vietnam affirmed that ASE AN Community building is a
central task of the grouping, and stressed the importance of solidarity
within the bloc and its central role in regional peace, security and
development.
Vietnam has also made positive
contributions to promoting Mekong cooperation with partners including
Japan , the Republic of Korea and the US in Mekong
River water resource management and sustainable development.
Regarding the East Sea issue, Vietnam voices cooperation
between ASEAN and China in the full and efficient implementation
of DOC, to soon reach a COC as affirmed in the ASEAN-China Joint
Statement on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of DOC, in order to
defend maritime peace, stability and security in the East Sea .
Vietnam proposed solutions for strengthening
trust-building and establishing an ASEAN-China hotline for issues at
sea, emphasising the humane treatment of fishermen working at sea.
Vietnam praised ASEAN-China SOM-level official consultation on a
COC, highlighting the need to soon reach the code, ensuring peace and
security in the East Sea .
On the sidelines
of the meetings, Vietnam held a series of bilateral talks to
discuss cooperation and issues of common concern, FM Minh concluded.-VNA