Vietnam – an active, dynamic and responsible member of ASEM

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13:51, 2014/10/16

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is to lead a Vietnamese delegation to the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 10) and deliver a keynote speech at the event, set for Milan, Italy, on October 16-17.

PM Dung will be one of the first three leaders to speak at the plenary session. He is also one of only three Asian senior leaders invited to take part in meetings and dialogues with Asian and European business leaders within the framework of the 14th Asia-Europe Business Forum.

During his stay in Italy, the Vietnam PM will hold working sessions and bilateral meetings with leaders of important partners in ASEM.
Dung and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will also meet with Foreign Ministers of ASEM member countries.
Over the past 18 years, Vietnam has earned a reputation as an active, dynamic and responsible member of ASEM. The country has endeavoured to increase its role and prestige at ASEM summits and these efforts have been rewarded immensely.
Vietnam successfully hosted ASEM 5 in 2004 along with five ministerial meetings – economics (in 2001), information technology (in 2006), diplomacy (in 2009), education (in 2009), and labour (in 2012).
Vietnam made many proposals on ASEM expansion at the 5th ASEM Summit in 2004 and the 9th Foreign Ministerial Meeting (FMM 9) in 2009. The country, together with other ASEM member countries, approved many important documents and made decisions on promoting cooperation among ASEM, such as the Hanoi Declaration on Closer ASEM Economic Partnership, the ASEM Declaration on Dialogue among Cultures and Civilisations, and recommendations for ASEM working methods.
Vietnam is one of pioneers in launching and maintaining cooperation mechanism on natural disaster response and ASEM dialogue on sustainable development on water management, with a focus on sub-region cooperation among countries in the Mekong and Danube river basins.
In addition, the S-shaped country is also among the most active members having initiatives and proposals on such fields as food security, energy security, water resource management, climate change adaptation, natural disaster response, green growth, social welfare, science-technology, tourism, human resource development, economics, culture, health care, transport, and youth exchange.
It’s worth noting that PM Dung’s initiatives have been praised and implemented by ASEM members who agreed to make them regular activities within ASEM framework. PM Dung’s green growth initiative at ASEM 9 in Laos two years ago and the initiative on sustainable development at ASEM dialogue in March 2013 are good examples of his praiseworthy initiatives.
To lift relations between Vietnam and the European Union and other important partners in ASEM to a higher level, this year Vietnam will focus its proposals and initiatives on the implementation of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), poverty reduction, vocational training, human resource development, water resource management, natural calamity fight, and Mekong – Danube cooperation.
Moreover, the country will organize the 14th informal ASEM seminar on business and human rights in Hanoi in November 2014 with the aim of promoting dialogue and increasing understanding between the two continents.
The coming ASEM Summit in Italy will feature the theme “Responsible Partnership for Growth and Security”, reflecting the enlarging scope of the EU-Asia relationship. The meeting will provide a key opportunity to convey a strong message of commitment to Asia.
It will include two plenary sessions, with the first one on promoting financial and economic cooperation through enhancing Europe-Asia connectivity, and the second one on Europe-Asia partnership in addressing global matters in an inter-connected world.
There will be a retreat session on enhancing dialogue and cooperation between Europe and Asia and future direction of ASEM.
ASEM, which was created in 1996, is regarded as an effective dialogue channel for Asia and Europe to deal with global challenges and speed up economic recovery.
Every two years, ASEM Heads of State and Government meet at a summit to set ASEM's priorities. These summits are held alternatively in Asia and Europe.
At present, ASEM has 53 members which account for 63% of the world population and contribute 57% to total GDP and 68% of global trade.

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