East Asia Summit promotes dialogue mechanism

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc along with the leaders of ASEAN and Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the US attended the 13th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Singapore on November 15 as part of the 33rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings.

In his speech, the PM called on EAS to maintain dialogue, build trust and support combined efforts to uphold international law, form and comply with a code of conduct, refrain from unilateral actions, and support the peaceful settlement of differences.

He urged EAS member states of the East Asia Summit (EAS) to enhance connectivity in their legal systems, infrastructure, and digitization process.

Concerning regional and global issues of shared concern, Phuc held that a stable and peaceful environment is a prerequisite for development cooperation, and striving for such a goal is a common responsibility for many countries, including EAS member states.

With regard to the East Sea issue, the government emphasized that ASEAN always upholds self-restraint with a focus on dialogue promotion, trust building, non-militarization, adherence to international law without the use or threat to use force, and settlement of disputes and differences by peaceful means in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Vietnamese government leader also called on countries to support such principles of the regional bloc with specific actions.

At the summit, the leaders adopted five EAS declarations on preventing plastic waste at sea, ASEAN smart cities, stepping up cooperation in communications tech security and digital economy, countering threats of foreign terrorist fighters, and nuclear security.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also attended the closing ceremony of the 33rd ASEAN Summit, during which, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong handed over the chairmanship of ASEAN 2019 to Thai Prime Minister Prayut Prayuth Chan-o-cha.

The same day, PM Phuc, his wife and delegation departed Singapore for their home country, successfully ending their trip for the 33^rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings.