The 36th ASEAN Summit will be held online on June 26 amid the still severe global health crisis, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a virtual ASEAN meeting in Apirl, 2020. Photo: MOFA

Top leaders of Vietnam – the 2020 ASEAN Chair – including Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will preside over a number of sessions.

Specifically, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will chair the opening, plenary, and special sessions on women’s empowerment in digital age; dialogues between ASEAN leaders and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), ASEAN youth representatives and ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will represent Vietnam to deliver a speech at the special session on women’s empowerment in digital age. Meanwhie, NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, head of the Vietnamese delegation to AIPA, will attend the dialogue between ASEAN leaders and AIPA.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will chair the informal ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting; the 26th meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council, and the 21st meeting of the ASEAN Political-Security Community Council.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh will preside over the ministerial meeting of participating countries in negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), while Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung will chair the 23rd meeting of the ASEAN Cultural-Social Community Council.

Before the virtual conference, Vietnam will hold a series of preparatory meetings on June 22-24.