CMSC On the morning of November 15, 2020, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the 11th ASEAN-United Nations Summit via video conference, with the participation of Leaders from the ASEAN member states, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, and ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi.
In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized the importance of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations and the 20th anniversary of the first Summit between ASEAN and the United Nations. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that for three-quarters of the century, the United Nations, the “coordinating center for joint actions of nations”, has truly been the driving force for international efforts to ensure peace and promote sustainable development. The principles of the Charter of the United Nations are the foundation governing current international relations. Meanwhile, ASEAN has affirmed its central and indispensable role in promoting dialogue and cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region and actively participating in global efforts initiated by the United Nations. The Prime Minister affirmed that, after more than four decades, ASEAN-UN relations have become a model for cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations and emphasized the need to continue promoting this comprehensive partnership to overcome today's difficult times and effectively contribute to recovery and sustainable growth of the world.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations affirmed its commitment to always supporting ASEAN centrality, highly appreciated Vietnam as in 2020, Vietnam has successfully coordinated and led ASEAN efforts, cooperated with partners, and responded effectively to COVID-19. The United Nations affirmed its commitment to supporting ASEAN in building Communities, minimizing the impacts of COVID-19 on social and economic life, thereby successfully implementing the comprehensive, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery framework.
The United Nations highly appreciated the contributions made by Indonesia and Viet Nam, the representatives from ASEAN to the United Nations Security Council, acknowledged the important contributions made by ASEAN to UN's efforts in promoting international peace and security, including the contribution of nearly 5000 personnel from ASEAN member countries to join the United Nations peacekeeping forces.
ASEAN Member States requested the United Nations to support the implementation of initiatives to respond to COVID-19 and to improve the capacity of preventive medicine in the region, especially in remote and underdeveloped areas. ASEAN appreciated the United Nations for its commitment to sharing experiences and technical assistance in developing and implementing the Comprehensive Recovery Framework, welcomed the UN's active assistance in implementing recovery efforts, ensuring a sustainable supply chain, facilitating trade and investment, and maintaining regional linkages. ASEAN welcomed the United Nations to play a key role in ensuring that COVID-19 vaccines and therapies become a public and equally provided product.
To implement the Action Plan for the period of 2021-2025, the two sides emphasized the need to continue to devote more attention and resources to cross-sectoral coordination, promotion of the rights, roles of women in peace and security, inclusive and exclusive growth, climate change adaptation, human resources development, and enhance sub-regional cooperation, narrow the development gap, ensure social equity, mitigate and prevent natural disasters. The two sides agreed to effectively implement the Complementarities Roadmap and effectively realizing the goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, contributing practically to sustainable development, and leave no one behind, enhance the effectiveness of disease prevention and response to emerging challenges. The two sides affirmed their commitment to continue contributing to the effort of strengthening a transparent and rules-based international trading system.
Regarding international and regional situations, the two sides reaffirmed the importance of national responsibility in building peace, maintaining stability, ensuring security and safety in the region, especially in the context of Covid-19 which is a big threat to the socio-economic life of other countries. The two sides affirmed their shared visions and commitment to the common goals of upholding international law, promoting multilateralism, and building a rules-based regional and international order.
The Summit emphasized the goal of striving to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, stability, security, and safety, ready to promote dialogue and confidence-building and carry out preventive diplomacy in the region under the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law and UNCLOS 1982. In this regard, the Meeting called for the full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), the early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC)consistent with international law, UNCLOS 1982, serving as a framework for all activities at sea.
Speaking at the Summit, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc reaffirmed ASEAN as an important and reliable partner of the United Nations in ensuring international peace and security. The Prime Minister reiterated that in the current difficult and challenging context, ASEAN and the United Nations needed to continue to work closely to promote norms and values for peace, strengthen dialogue and cooperation to shape a rules-based regional and global order that set standards of conduct among countries in accordance with international law.
As the Chair of ASEAN 2020, the Prime Minister informed the United Nations on the ASEAN’s efforts in community building, control of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spirit of cohesion and responsiveness. Besides, ASEAN also reaffirmed to continue its close coordination to timely and proactively respond to transnational challenges that were threatening global stability and development, including outbreaks of the COVID-19.
Regarding the South China Sea, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized Viet Nam's position in line with the ASEAN’s principles agreed upon in the 36th ASEAN Summit in June 2020, the 53rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in September 2020, and this 37th ASEAN Summit to build the South China Sea into a sea of peace, stability, and cooperation. On behalf of ASEAN, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of self-restraint in the conduct of all activities that could further complicate the situation and escalate tensions in the South China Sea, non-militarization and peaceful resolution of disputes under international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS; committed to fully and effectively implement the DOC and continued efforts to achieve an effective and substantive COC under international law, including UNCLOS 1982.
At the end of the Summit, the ASEAN Leaders and the Secretary-General of the United Nations noted the adoption of the 2021-2025 ASEAN-United Nations Plan of Action. In addition, the Chair would issue a Chairman's Statement to reflect the outcomes of the 11th ASEAN-United Nations Summit./.
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