Towards ASEAN Community for Public Benefit

The birthday ceremony was organised at the ASEAN Secretariat Office in Jakarta (Indonesia). Addressing at the meeting, ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan highlighted the result of ASEAN cooperation on the 44-year journey to become one of the most successful regional organisations and have the current position.

“In the past 44 years, ASEAN has achieved the unity in diversity. While each member country maintains its own identity, we always share the vision of the ASEAN Community in 2015”, said Surin Pitsuwan.

 

To continue promoting the achievements it has gained, ASEAN placed an emphasis this year on the people - the main factor that speeds up the process of ASEAN integration and the purpose that the ASEAN Community is looking to. Therefore, there are many community-oriented activities to be held this year such as ASEAN Youth Festival, ASEAN Cycling Day, ASEAN Cultural Festival, and ASEAN Food Festival.

 

On December 15, 2008, with the ratification of all 10 member states, the ASEAN Charter came into effect, marking the most important milestone in the Association’s history and creating the legal foundation and institution for the construction of ASEAN Community.

 

To celebrate the 44th ASEAN birthday, member countries have launched many meaningfully commemoratory activities: Hoisting ASEAN Flag beside the National Flag at all their embassies and consulates worldwide.

 

This activity showed strong political determinations of member states on the way of building the ASEAN Community of close linkage, powerfulness and prosperity, and contributed to strengthening friendly relations, cooperation and solidarity among ASEAN countries, strengthening the role and position of ASEAN in the region and on the international arena, for peace, stability, friendship, cooperation, development and prosperity in the region and in the world.

 

As an ASEAN member for 16 years, Vietnam has continuously and proactively put forth significant initiatives to the activities of ASEAN, the ASEAN Charter and hosted a lot ASEAN meetings and ASEAN with partners meetings, particularly the successful ASEAN Chairmanship in 2010.

 

The position and prestige of Vietnam are increasingly appreciated by the ASEAN countries and non-ASEAN partners.

 

On the ASEAN Day on August 8, on behalf of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung delivered an important speech.

He said ASEAN Day carried significant importance to nearly 600 million people in enhancing their close-knit attachment and prosperous development.

 

ASEAN cooperation is being improved intensively and practically based on the legal framework of the ASEAN Charter and the Roadmap to build the ASEAN Community with three pillars: the Politics-Security Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community. In the coming time, the leader said, ASEAN should enhance solidarity and make greater efforts to accomplish effectively and on schedule all targets set in its plan to implement the roadmap to build the ASEAN Community from now to 2015.

 

ASEAN has actually become an important and indispensable factor for peace, stability and development in Southeast Asia, and a momentum to promote dialogue, cooperation and connectivity in East Asia and Asia-Pacific. However, Vietnam is well aware of difficulties and challenges posing to the development of ASEAN. Therefore, in the future, ASEAN should continue with its stronger efforts, especially on the following priority directions.

 

Firstly, ASEAN should enhance solidarity and make greater efforts to accomplish effectively and on schedule all targets set in its plan to implement the roadmap to build the ASEAN Community from now to 2015.

 

Second, the bloc should continue to promote its proactive role in ensuring an environment of peace, security, stability and cooperation in the region, especially in enhancing efficiency of regional cooperation mechanisms and tools such as the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (SEANWFZ), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). It should also promote dialogue, confidence building and peaceful settlement of disputes and observe international law, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN Charter and the ASEAN Charter.

 

Thirdly, ASEAN needs to continue expanding and deepening relations with its partners in parallel with consolidating and strengthening its central role in regional cooperation and shaping regional architecture in order to boost cooperation for the common goal of peace, stability and development as well as effectively deal with emerging challenges.

 

PM Dung asserted that ASEAN cooperation has been always an important part in the Vietnamese Party and State’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of relations, and proactive regional and international integration. The 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam affirmed that “Vietnam will strengthen friendly and cooperative relations with its neighbouring countries and actively, proactively and responsibly join efforts with nations to build a powerful ASEAN Community.”

 

With the spirit of pro-activeness, activeness, and responsibility, and upholding the great achievements reaped in 2010 when assuming the ASEAN Chair, Vietnam has and will make positive contributions to building a closely-connected, united and strong ASEAN with increasingly important role and position in the region and the world and striving for the common goal of peace, stability, cooperation and prosperous development.