Việt Nam's Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh. — VNA/VNS Photo

Remarks by the ASEAN Chair 2020 Phạm Bình Minh, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign  Minister of Socialist Republic of Việt Nam on the occasion of the 53rd ASEAN Day Online Celebration on August 8, 2020

Dear friends,

When  ASEAN  was  established  53  years  ago,  few  could  have  imagined  the success of ASEAN today.

Over  the  past  half  century, ASEAN  has  time  and  again  shown  the  strength  of unity and resilience.

An ASEAN embracing 10 brotherly nations has turned Southeast Asia from a land of  discord  to  a  land  of  concord,  from  confrontation  to  cooperation  and  from poverty to dynamic development.

Today,  the  ASEAN  Community  is  a  big  Family  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  million people with a combined GDP of three trillion USD.

Translating its vision into actions, ASEAN has been promoting both the interest of our peoples and peace and prosperity in the Asia - Pacific.

ASEAN  is  now  at  a  critical  juncture.  The  new  dynamism  in  our  Geo-strategic landscape, emerging regional and global issues require ASEAN to be ever more cohesive and responsive.

Shoulder  to  shoulder,  we  can  rise  above  any  challenge  and  move  ASEAN forward. Therefore, we should redouble our efforts to strengthen our Community, while proactively and effectively promote our ties with the dialogue partners.

We  should  also  ensure  an ASEAN-centered  regional  architecture  that  is  open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based.

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Việt Nam’s participation in ASEAN. Our commitment  and  experience  in  the  past  25  years  enable  us  to  make  more proactive contributions to ASEAN.

Under Việt Nam’s Chairmanship this year, a cohesive and responsive ASEAN has taken well-coordinated measures to protect the health of our peoples and revive our  economies.  ASEAN   has  led  regional  efforts  in   fighting   the  COVID-19 pandemic, innovated our operations and further deepened our external relations, thus elevated ASEAN international standing.

With the “Think Community, Act Community” approach, Việt Nam will continue to work  closely  with  our  neighbours  and  friends,  to  build  a  strong  and  united ASEAN, that is indispensable for peace and prosperity in our region and beyond.

Thank you.