ASEAN flag hoisting ceremony in Hanoi marks the 53rd founding anniversary

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The ASEAN flag-hoisting ceremony at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ha Noi on August 7, 2020. Photo: VGP

Participants to the event include Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Labor-Invalids and Social Affairs, Ambassadors and Charge D’affaires of ASEAN member States.

Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh chaired the event, which also drew ambassadors of ASEAN member countries to Vietnam and leaders of a number of ministries and Hanoi.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh chaired the event, which also drew ambassadors of ASEAN member countries to Vietnam and leaders of a number of ministries and Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the ceremony, Minh underlined that over the past 53 years, ASEAN has made a big step forward. By embracing 10 member nations, ASEAN has turned Southeast Asia from a land of discord to a land of concord, from confrontation to cooperation, and from poverty to dynamic development, he said. In his remarks, Deputy PM, FM Minh emphasized that ASEAN has come a long way since its inception in 1967.

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh addresses the ASEAN flag-hoisting ceremony on August 7, 2020. Photo: VGP

He noted that through its Community building process, ASEAN enables the Southeast Asian region to thrive as a family of 650 people with a combined GDP of US$3 trillion, and as a peaceful, stable and resilient region with dynamic and vibrant economies..

The Vietnamese Deputy PM held that the association is facing major, unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the fast changing geo-strategic landscape as well as emerging non-traditional security issues.

“But these are causes to be discouraged. Instead, these call for a more cohesive, responsive ASEAN, which retains its firm centrality in the region. The encouraging results achieved in the first half of 2020 bear testament to ASEAN that never wavers at any hardship,” he stated.

According to Minh, chairing ASEAN this year is a great honour for Vietnam as 2020 coincides with the 25th anniversary of the country accession to ASEAN.

Under Vietnam’s Chairmanship, ASEAN has taken well-coordinated measures to collectively respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, protect the health of our peoples, cushion the negative impacts on our economies, and prepare for a comprehensive recovery to emerge from the pandemic, he said, reported the vietnamnet.

With the “Think Community, Act Community” approach, Viet Nam will continue to work closely with our ASEAN sisters and brothers as well as with external partners and the international community to build a united and resilent ASEAN Community, Minh affirmed.

He expressed his belief that “shoulder to shoulder, we can rise above any challenges and move ASEAN forward.”

Minh took the occasion to announce that ASEAN Foreign Ministers will issue a Statement on the Importance of Maintaining Peace and Stability in Southeast Asia Region on the ASEAN Day of August 8, 2020.

This statement will reaffirm ASEAN’s vision, commitments and fundamental principles to build ASEAN into a region of peace, progress and prosperity as inspired in the 1967 ASEAN Declaration, said the VGP.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh and delegates attending the ASEAN Flag raising ceremony. (Photo: VNA)

The ASEAN flag has four colours of blue, red, white and yellow, representing the main colours of the flags of all the ASEAN members. The stalks of padi in the centre of the Emblem represent the dream of ASEAN’s Founding Fathers for an ASEAN comprising all the countries in Southeast Asia, bound together in friendship and solidarity. The circle represents the unity of ASEAN.

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