Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh offered Vietnam’s views on orientations and measures needed to achieve the formation of the ASEAN Community by the year-end, as well as the bloc’s beyond-2015 vision at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Malaysia on January 27-28.
During the Retreat, themed “Our People, Our Community, Our Vision,” delegates discussed the bloc’s priorities in 2015 and the ASEAN Community’s progress.
 |
| Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh at a feast hosted by the Malaysian Foreign Minister__Photo: Nguyen Chi Giap/VNA |
They agreed on a series of key priorities, including launching the community as scheduled, completing a blueprint of the ASEAN beyond-2015 vision, improving the efficiency of the ASEAN apparatus, and expanding internal trade and investment through intensifying cooperation among small- and medium-sized enterprises.
For the ASEAN to take shape as scheduled on December 31, the delegates suggested member states make stronger political commitments, invest proper resources, value the harmony of national and regional interests, and improve the efficiency of ASEAN supervisory mechanisms.
The ministers proposed ASEAN to uphold its significant role in dealing with arising regional challenges and crises by quick-response mechanisms while fortifying internal connectivity, solidarity and unity to secure ASEAN’s central role in the emerging regional structure.-
