July 28, 2020, marks a quarter of a century since Vietnam became an official member of ASEAN. The 25th anniversary of this special occasion coincides with Vietnam’s assuming the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN for the second time.
The article said that Vietnam’s joining ASEAN brought Southeast Asia from confrontation to dialogue, from distrust to trust, and from division to solidarity.
For ASEAN, the admission of Vietnam as its seventh member accelerated the expansion of the group to include all 10 countries in the region and strengthened peace and stability in this region of special geopolitical and geo-economic importance connecting the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. When Vietnam joined ASEAN, the region had just emerged from the Cold War and its status, role and economic strength were still modest.
But the past 25 years have seen a drastic transformation of ASEAN and today, all 10 member countries have become a unified community with an elevated reputation in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world.
As ASEAN Chair for 2020, Vietnam is promoting this year’s theme “Cohesive and Responsive” to accelerate the process of building the ASEAN Community and to promote ASEAN's role in a turbulent world, according to the article.
Mr. Minh noted that ASEAN is achieving its goals of co-operation and connectivity in 2020, overcoming difficulties and challenges, containing the COVID-19 pandemic, and beginning to recover.