Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh presides the ASEAN Coordinating Council Meeting in Hanoi on April 9, 2020. (Photo: Van Diep/VNA)

The ASEAN Special Summit is expected to issue a Joint Declaration on the COVID-19 pandemic which stresses commitments to a unified, multi-sectorial, and multilateral approach to the pandemic.

The ASEAN+3 Special Summit, which includes the 10 ASEAN members plus China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, is scheduled to issue a Joint Declaration, affirming a shared commitment to strengthening solidarity, cooperation, and mutual support between ASEAN and its three partners in order to mitigate the pandemic’s economic impact.

In an article titled 'ASEAN cooperation in fighting COVID-19: Solidarity is Strength', Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh stressed the responsibility every nation, every government, and every regional and global mechanism shares in the fight against COVID-19.

He wrote that as governments and people in Southeast Asia and around the world are taking drastic action to fight this common enemy, co-operation is essential.