Vietnam’s support to foster ASEAN-US relations for practical results

PANO – The USA is one of the leading economic partners of ASEAN. At the end of 2014, the two-way trade value between ASEAN and the USA reached US$ 216 billion, and US investment in ASEAN totaled US$ 226 billion.

On the evening of February 17^th, Vietnamese Prime Minister and his entourage returned to Hanoi, successfully concluding their participation in the ASEAN-US Leaders Summit in Sunnylands, California, the USA. On the occasion, Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung gave an interview to the press.

Reporter: Could you clarify the meaning of the recent ASEAN-US Special Leaders’ Summit?

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung: This ASEAN-US Leaders Summit bears a special meaning. It is special from the name of the summit to its agenda and its outcomes.

One session of the Summit. Photo: channelnewsasia.com

First, this has been the first summit between ASEAN and its partner country since the birth of the ASEAN Economic Community. This shows that the USA highly values ASEAN’s position and its central role in the region, and that it really wants to deepen the ASEAN-US relationship, bringing practical benefits to every regional country and the region as a whole.

This summit has provided a good chance for ASEAN and US leaders to meet and discuss regional opportunities and challenges as well as transnational issues, such as anti-terrorism, transnational crime and response to climate change. This also demonstrates the important position and indispensable role of ASEAN as a leading regional organization in dealing with regional issues.

Second, this summit marked a turning point in relations between ASEAN and the USA. It shows that the USA is becoming more committed to the region and ASEAN. Such fast and big developments over the past few years in the relations between ASEAN and the USA as the formalization of the ASEAN-US Summit mechanism in 2013, the upgrading of the ASEAN-US relations to a strategic partnership in November 2015, and the adoption of the Action Plan in the 2016-2020 to boost cooperation between ASEAN and the USA also makes a lot of sense.

In fact, the US proposal to convene an ASEAN-US summit shortly after the foundation of the ASEAN Economic Community can be understood that the USA highly values the key position and central role of ASEAN, and that it wants to boost cooperation with the bloc in the future. The organization of this ASEAN-US Leaders Summit in the state of California, which is the country’s hi-tech hub and home to many Southeast Asian Americans, can also mean that the USA wants connections with ASEAN via hi-tech cooperation, education and training and diplomacy activities.

Third, the summit took place at a time when  Vietnam-US relations is seeing big developments after a number of important visits by Vietnamese and US high-ranking officials, especially the historical visit to the USA of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in July 2015. What is more, Vietnam and the USA together with 10 other nations officially signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement earlier this month. These events demonstrate that both Vietnam and the USA want to foster the bilateral relations and cooperation in various areas and on both bilateral and multilateral scales.

Reporter: Could you please name the important outcomes of the summit?

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung: I should confirm that this summit was successful as it reached the set targets. The summit has released the Joint Sunnylands Declaration with 17 basic principles, serving as important guides for the ASEAN-US strategic partnership.

In general, the 17 principles underline respect of international law, the UN Charter and the ASEAN Charter; support for the building of international and regional order based on universally adopted conventions and international rules; commitment to dealing with disputes via peaceful means, including legal actions and diplomacy; restraint and avoidance of the use of force; assurance of maritime and aeronautical security and safety in line with universally accepted rules of international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS. The two sides also pledged to support the central role of ASEAN and the regional mechanisms led by the bloc; increase cooperation in international forums; assist the building of the ASEAN Community; and step up cooperation in sustainable development and response to terror threats and climate change.

During the summit, ASEAN and US leaders discussed specific measures to deepen ASEAN-US relations. Accordingly, the USA will cooperate with ASEAN to promote sustainable development and creative economy, improve the bloc’s competitiveness, reduce tariff barriers, assist local small- and middle- scale enterprises, and provide more opportunities for ASEAN students to study in the USA. On the sidelines of the summit, the USA also organized a conference on the ASEAN Community on February 17^th in San Francisco as well as several other investment, economic and trade promotion activities with the participation of leading US groups, namely IBM, CISCO and Microsoft.

At this point, the USA has become one of ASEAN’s most important economic partners. At the end of 2014, ASEAN-US trade was valued at US$ 216 billion while US business investment in ASEAN countries totaled US$ 226 billion, exceeding the aggregate figure of Japan, South Korea and China.

Reporter: What did Vietnam contribute to this summit?

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung: The high-ranking Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung actively participated in and made a big contribution to the success of the summit, ranging from the discussion sessions to the process to build the Sunnylands Declaration. The Vietnamese Prime Minister made speeches in all three discussion sessions, sharing important assessments on regional strategic situations and calling to build strategic confidence among regional countries.

Regarding the regional situation, the Vietnamese delegation underlined concern about recent complicated developments in the East Sea (South China Sea) and expressed its consensus with the summit’s viewpoint on the need to settle disputes by peaceful means while seriously respecting international law, the 1982 UNCLOS, restraining the use of force, avoiding militarization in the East Sea, strictly implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties (DOC) in the East Sea, and speeding up negotiations to complete the Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

Additionally, the Vietnamese delegation shared their common concern about the rise in nontraditional security threats in the region, such as terrorism, transnational crime and climate change. The Vietnamese delegation underscored the need to build regional strategic confidence, increase regional dialogues, cooperation and peaceful negotiations to untie the knots, and promote the role of multilateral mechanisms, particularly the role of ASEAN.

Vietnam also supported the shared effort to foster the ASEAN-US relations for practical results and promote cooperation in the areas of mutual interest, such as trade, investment, science and technology, education and training and diplomacy. Vietnam proposed two initiatives, namely building an ASEAN-US Center to promote bilateral cooperation in the development of small- and middle- scale enterprises, and cooperation in the response to climate change.

On the sidelines, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung had a meeting with President Barack Obama and other ASEAN countries’ leaders to promote bilateral relations and exchanged views on major regional issues.

In fact, the Vietnamese delegation’s activities and contributions were highly valued by the US and participating countries. Via its active participation and practical contribution, Vietnam has demonstrated itself as an active, dynamic and responsible member of the international community.