Vietnamese President Võ Văn Thưởng had a meeting with ASEAN countries' ambassadors to Việt Nam in Hà Nội on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — President Võ Văn Thưởng hosted a reception in Hà Nội on Monday for ASEAN ambassadors who came to congratulate him on his election as the Vietnamese State leader.

On behalf of the ASEAN diplomats, Indonesian Ambassador Denny Abdi conveyed congratulations and greetings from leaders of Indonesia and ASEAN member states to the President.

He said that over the past 28 years, Việt Nam had played an important role in strengthening the solidarity and central role of ASEAN, as well as in building the ASEAN Community Vision beyond 2025. Việt Nam's GDP growth of 8.02 per cent last year will generate momentum for regional economic development.

Committing to actively supporting and contributing effectively to further enhancing the relationship between Việt Nam and ASEAN countries, he said he believed that under the sound leadership of the President, their friendship and cooperation would continue to grow, making important contributions to maintaining peace, security and stability in the region.

Hailing this year's ASEAN theme, "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth", which reflects the role of the bloc in the region and the shared aspirations of ASEAN for development in peace, prosperity and harmony, Thưởng said that Việt Nam would accompany ASEAN 2023 Chair, and all member countries in achieving these goals.

ASEAN held an extremely important position, and was an integral part of Việt Nam's foreign policy. Unity, flexibility, harmony and inclusiveness would be the "golden keys" to opening doors to a new regional space with ASEAN at the centre, towards realising the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and beyond, with the community spirit permeating among people of all strata, he said.

Việt Nam always attached importance to ties with Southeast Asian neighbouring countries, he added.

The President said Việt Nam and Southeast Asian nations had been working closely together in a number of important fields such as national defence-security, economy, trade, investment, education-training, and people-to-people exchange, and expanding into new areas in the industry 4.0 era, such as innovation, digital transformation, digital connectivity, circular economy, green economy, clean energy, among others.

The host wished that ambassadors would serve as important bridges, contributing more to promoting friendship and cooperation between Việt Nam and ASEAN member states.

On the occasion of the traditional New Year of Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Ramadan in Muslim countries, Thưởng extended his warmest wishes to their leaders and people. —  VNS