Vietnam marks ASEAN founding

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on August 8th held a ceremony raising the flag of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to mark the 49th year of the association (August 8th) and 21st year since Vietnam joined the association (July 28th).

ASEAN flag hoisting ceremony in Hanoi

MOFA Deputy Minister Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Minister of Labour, War-Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to Vietnam El Houcine Fardani, and representatives from ASEAN member countries’ embassies attended the ceremony.

The ASEAN flag raising ceremony has become the practice of all member countries and of the ASEAN Secretariat, as a way to honour the common values and commitment in promoting solidarity, friendship and cooperation in ASEAN.

According to Deputy Prime Minister and MOFA Minister Pham Binh Minh, since its establishment in late 2015, the ASEAN Community has officially been operated on the basis of comprehensive integration in terms of politics, security, economics, culture and society.

The cooperation in ASEAN, which can be summarised in 3 Ps (Peace, Prosperity and People), has been proved in reality throughout nearly half of a century of existence and development, as well as in nearly one year since the establishment of the ASEAN Community.

The implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 which started on January 1st this year, reported encouraging results in all channels of cooperation. In the political and security pillar, 140 of 290 action flows in the general plan until 2020 have been effectively carried out, highlighting ASEAN's strength in promoting dialogue, and building up trust and common standard of conduct./.

( Compiled by VNF )