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Friday, June 26, 2020, 22:39
36th ASEAN summit highlights COVID-19 response, recovery
By Xinhua
Friday, June 26, 2020, 22:39 By Xinhua

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 36th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, June 26, 2020. Leaders from the Southeast Asian ten-nation bloc hold the bi-annual summit via online video conference to discuss regional issues. (HAU DINH / AP)

HANOI — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday opened its 36th summit, which is chaired by Vietnam via video conference, focusing on COVID-19 response, post-pandemic recovery and further cooperation with partners.

The ASEAN needs to continue to effectively control the COVID-19 epidemic and overcome the consequences of the epidemic while recovering and keeping on economic development 

Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnamese Prime Minister

Addressing the opening ceremony of the summit, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said he expected the summit to be an opportunity to "once again affirm the strong solidarity, political will, and determination of ASEAN member countries to overcome difficulties, to determinedly head forward."

Noting that the ASEAN countries have engaged in "active information and experience sharing and coordination in disease control," Phuc said the bloc needs to continue to effectively control the COVID-19 epidemic and overcome the consequences of the epidemic while recovering and keeping on economic development. He called for continued efforts to complete the bloc's cooperation and integration goals in 2020.

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He said the ASEAN will constantly expand and deepen equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with partners. "We are strongly committed to economic liberalization and integration, striving to complete the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)."

With the theme "Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN," the summit will discuss the regional comprehensive post-pandemic recovery plans, implement initiatives including establishing the ASEAN COVID-19 response fund, setting up a reserve for medical supplies to meet urgent needs during epidemics, building the ASEAN standard procedures of epidemic response in case of health emergency, according to the Vietnamese prime minister.

Leaders at the summit adopted the ASEAN Declaration on Human Resources Development for the Changing World of Work.

They are committed to equipping the ASEAN's human resources with the competencies to get them to be future-ready, thereby enabling them to actively contribute to the sustainable development, competitiveness and resilience of the ASEAN, protecting them from potential adverse impacts of disruptive technologies, enabling them to manage just transition, and ensuring that no one is left behind in this changing world of work, according to the declaration.

According to the declaration, ASEAN leaders are resolved to enhance the cooperation between the bloc and its external partners, including international organizations, to facilitate the sharing of models, good practices, and experiences in advancing human resource development in a changing world of work.

The leaders are aware of the changing world of work due to technological advances, the demographic transition, and greening economies, that offer both opportunities and challenges to the economies, industries and employment in the region, according to the document.

According to the declaration released on Friday, the leaders are also determined to establish the ASEAN Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council as a platform for coordination, research, and development on innovations, and monitoring of regional programs that support the advancement of TVET in the region.

The ASEAN leaders will also conduct the mid-term review of the implementation of the blueprints under the ASEAN Community Vision 2025, provide feedback on a post-2025 ASEAN Community Vision, and improve the efficiency of ASEAN work by evaluating the enforcement of the ASEAN Charter, he said.

Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

READ MORE:China, ASEAN launch digital economy cooperation year

The 36th ASEAN summit had been scheduled for April in central Vietnam's Da Nang but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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