Virtual meeting gathering ASEAN representatives to the UN held to review ASEAN Committee activities this year. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the UN held a virtual meeting on Monday to summarise activities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee in New York this year and handed over its current chairmanship to Brunei.

In his remarks at the function, Đặng Đình Quý, head of the mission, delivered the summarisation of the works in 2020.

Accordingly, the committee organised two official regular meetings, and six dialogues with UN member states and organisations. ASEAN delivered 36 joint speeches, highlighting the bloc’s achievements and stances on a host of issues at the UN’s key forums.

Following a Vietnamese initiative, the issue of ASEAN-UN cooperation was discussed for the first time at a UN Security Council meeting, Quý noted.

Việt Nam also initiated, negotiated and pushed for the UN General Assembly’s approval of a resolution on ASEAN-UN cooperation, with a record number of 120 UN member nations backing the decision, he said.

Participating representatives of ASEAN member states congratulated Việt Nam on its successful chairmanship of the ASEAN committee this year even in the face of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the nation has coordinated the bloc’s operations well via creative and effective suggestions.

They said the ASEAN solidarity and cooperation have been strengthened as member states have stepped up engagements as well as backed each other’s initiatives and candidacies for posts at UN organisations. 

They lauded the performance of Việt Nam and Indonesia as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and their joint work to boost the image of ASEAN at the forum.

Brunei, the Chair of the committee in 2021, said it will build on progress achieved this year following the country’s theme of “We Care. We Prepare. We Prosper” set for its ASEAN chairmanship the same year. — VNS