51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting opens in Singapore

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has led a Vietnamese delegation to the AMM-51 and related meetings. The event is taking place amid unpredicted, complicated developments in the region and the world, such as trade war among major countries, the Korean Peninsula and East Sea situations or economic difficulties from increasing protectionism and falling trade on the globe. On the basis of identifying difficulties and challenges, at the AMM-51, the ministers will focus on discussing orientations and measures to build the ASEAN Community, implement master plans on the Community building under the ASEAN Vision 2025, and raise the grouping's resilience to deal with emerging challenges. One of the important contents to be debated at this meeting is enhancing ASEAN solidarity, maintaining its central role in the region and in relations with partners, as well as accelerating the building of codes of conduct in the region, including the process of compiling a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) between ASEAN and China. The ministers will table measures to promote balanced and win-win cooperation with partners, respond to new proposals on regional architecture, and improve the efficiency of forums chaired by ASEAN, including the East Asia Summit (EAS). In addition, they will also spend time exchanging views on regional and global issues in the context of numerous challenges.

The ASEAN FMs are scheduled to issue a joint communiqué at the end of the meeting.

(Source: VNA)