Made at the invitation of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, which serves as the current ASEAN Chair, the trip is the first foreign one by Chinh since he was elected Prime Minister on April 5 by the National Assembly.

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Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh leaves Hanoi for the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting.

The meeting is set to take place at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on April 23-24, as the bloc is making efforts to build its community, respond to COVID-19, and address non-traditional security issues.

Chinh’s entourage includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of Vietnam’s ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) Nguyen Quoc Dung.

During his trip, apart from attending the meeting to discuss the Myanmar issue, ASEAN Community building, COVID-19 response, and the bloc’s external relations, the Vietnamese PM will join bilateral meetings with leaders of ASEAN member states to boost ties and talk about matters of common concern.

Source: VNA