Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Wednesday inspects preparation work for the 37th ASEAN Summit at the International Convention Centre in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Wednesday inspected preparations for the 37th ASEAN Summit which will be held as a video conference on November 12.

The gathering will be the last official summit hosted by Việt Nam as ASEAN Chair in 2020.

The Government leader spoke highly of the efforts made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies in preparing for the summit, from technical to security matters.

PM Phúc asked for ministries and agencies to raise their sense of responsibility, completing their assigned tasks to ensure the quality of the agenda and discussions, as well as enhancing Viet Nam’s prestige as ASEAN Chairman.

The 37th ASEAN Summit and related meetings are scheduled to take place between November 12 and 15.

Party General Secretary and State President Nguyễn Phú Trọng will deliver welcoming remarks at the opening ceremony of the 37th ASEAN Summit on November 12

During the summits between ASEAN and partner countries, the leaders will focus on fostering and deepening ASEAN co-operation with other countries, effective management to push back COVID-19 and other regional and global issues of common concern.

Some 20 high-level conferences will be held including the 37th ASEAN Summit, ASEAN+1 Summit, ASEAN+3 Summit, East Asian Summit, as well as the Mekong-Japan and Mekong-Republic of Korea summits.

For the first time, the ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit will be held with the participation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân and female leaders of all 10 ASEAN countries.

The summit will highlight the roles of women leaders in building a cohesive, dynamic, sustainable and inclusive community in the post-COVID-19 period. A record number of 80 documents are expected to be adopted at the summit and related meetings.

They include the Hà Nội Declaration on ASEAN Community Vision in the post-2025 period, the Hà Nội Declaration on promoting social work towards a responsive and cohesive ASEAN Community, the Declaration of ASEAN+3 leaders on strengthening financial resilience in response to new and emerging challenges and the Declaration of the East Asian Summit on sustainable marine co-operation. Viet Nam is expected to symbolically hand over the ASEAN Chairmanship to Brunei at the closing ceremony on November 15.

The summit is expected to attract 200 domestic and international reporters. — VNS