Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (fifth, right) and RoK
President Moon Jae-in (centre) and other leaders pose for a photo at the ASEAN-RoK
Commemorative Summit in Busan
During the trip, the PM and his entourage engaged in
a wide range of bilateral and multilateral activities, reaping practical
outcomes.
In particular, the PM’s official visit to the RoK
set a new milestone in the Vietnam-RoK relationship with the signing of
several cooperative deals valued at billions of VND, pushing the bilateral
strategic partnership forward in a result-oriented, effective and
comprehensive manner.
Talking about the outcomes of the PM’s tour, Deputy
Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung said the commemorative summit, held at the
RoK’s initiative to commemorate 30 years of ASEAN-RoK dialogue relations,
was considered an important highlight in the New Southern Policy of RoK
President Moon Jae-in.
At the event, the RoK made a strong commitment to
enhancing relations with ASEAN and stressed the wish to join hands with the
bloc to build a peaceful, prosperous, sustainably cohesive and people-centred
community.
The cooperation fields that will be promoted are
also the strengths of the RoK and meet ASEAN’s demand, including
infrastructure connectivity (by sea, road and air), digital and
people-to-people connectivity, innovation, new technology development and
application, effective adaptation to the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
support for startups in science and technology, and high-quality human
resources development, Dung said.
He noted the RoK also unveiled initiatives on
improving tourist and work visa systems for ASEAN citizens, doubling
scholarships for ASEAN students, setting up an ASEAN-RoK industrial
innovation centre, and connecting with the ASEAN Smart Cities Network.
At a discussion about dialogue promotion for
sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula, ASEAN countries affirmed their
support for the RoK’s policy and President Moon’s efforts to step up
dialogue, enhance trust, and work towards sustainable solutions for peace
and denuclearisation. They pledged to continue contributing to this process,
including by creating conditions for contact and dialogue on the sidelines
of ASEAN-led forums like the ASEAN Regional Forum.
President Moon highlighted the goodwill and support
of ASEAN members, including Singapore and Vietnam, according to Deputy
Minister Dung.
At the end of the summit, ASEAN and the RoK adopted
a joint vision statement for peace and prosperity and to outline major
orientations for their partnership.
Dung noted as Vietnam is the next ASEAN Chair, PM
Phuc had played an active role at the summit.
The Vietnamese leader pointed out important
directions for reinforcing and elevating ASEAN-RoK relations in the next 30
years with four priorities, namely increasing the strategic aspects of their
ties, bolstering balanced and win-win economic cooperation, stepping up
comprehensive connectivity, and cooperation to the develop marine economy
and environmental sustainably.
These priorities match the attention and priorities
of both the RoK and ASEAN, and they are also the focuses Vietnam will
promote as the ASEAN Chair in 2020, the deputy minister said.
He added PM Phuc also vowed that Vietnam will
continue working closely with other ASEAN countries to further intensify the
strategic partnership and all-round collaboration with the RoK to bring
bilateral ties on par with both sides’ potential and aspirations.
At the event, ASEAN countries and the RoK expressed
their belief in and affirmed that they will strongly support Vietnam to
successfully fulfill its role as ASEAN Chair next year, the official
noted./.VNA