Vietnamese Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh chairs the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting on November 10, 2020.  (Photo: Hai Minh/VGP)

During an online meeting on Tuesday ahead of the 37th ASEAN Summit, the Ministers said ASEAN has continued to prove its centrality in the regional structure despite the pandemic, competition between world powers, and security challenges. They called for full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (called the East Sea in Vietnam) and said they look forward to a Code of Conduct in line with international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Ministers agreed on the participation of Colombia, Cuba, and South Africa in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.

“We take pride in being the first Caribbean country to adhere to the Amity and Cooperation Treaty, for which we are grateful to all ASEAN members with whom we share our values, consent positions and cooperate in international bodies, based on the defense of multilateralism, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter," Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla told the online signing ceremony.

"The signing of this instrument of accession takes place in an international context that shows the extraordinary value of solidarity and cooperation to confront global challenges,” he said. 

The same day, ASEAN economic ministers reviewed the master plan on building the ASEAN Economic Community until 2025.

“Like elsewhere in the world, the ASEAN economic outlook has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. Specifically, we are witnessing a declining trend in both trade and cross-border investment,” Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh told the online 19th ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting.       

“This situation is requiring ASEAN to identify new strategies to advance AEC cooperation, especially in supporting production capacity, strengthening regional trade and investment, sustaining regional value chains, bridging the development gaps among member states, so as to keep moving towards the goal of building a single market and production base with high level of economic development and fully integrated into the global economy,” said Minister Anh.  

“Despite the significant challenges facing our region, ASEAN continues to show the unwavering commitment to deepening our regional economic integration, under the AEC blueprint 2025,” he added.

The economic ministers signed an MoU on non-tariff measures for essential goods in response to COVID-19.