An ASEAN flag-hoisting ceremony took place at the headquartesr of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday morning to mark the Association's 53rd founding anniversary. 

The ASEAN flag-hoisting ceremony at the headquarters of the Vietnamese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Ha Noi on August 7, 2020. Photo: VGP

Participants to the event include Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Labor-Invalids and Social Affairs, Ambassadors and Charge D’affaires of ASEAN member States.

In his remarks, Deputy PM, FM Minh emphasized that ASEAN has come a long way since its inception in 1967.

By embracing 10 member nations, ASEAN has turned Southeast Asia  from a land of discord to a land of concord, from confrontation to cooperation, and from poverty to dynamic development.

Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh addresses
the ASEAN flag-hoisting ceremony on August 7, 2020. Photo: VGP

Through its Community building process, ASEAN enables the Southeast Asian region to thrive as a family of 650 people with a combined GDP of US$3 trillion, and as a peaceful, stable and resilient region with dynamic and vibrant economies.

With the “Think Community, Act Community” approach, Viet Nam will continue to work closely with our ASEAN sisters and brothers as well as with external partners and the international community to build a united and resilent ASEAN Community, Minh affirmed.

He expressed his belief that “shoulder to shoulder, we can rise above any challenges and move ASEAN forward.”

Minh took the occasion to announce that ASEAN Foreign Ministers will issue a Statement on the Importance of Maintaining Peace and Stability in Southeast Asia Region on the ASEAN Day of August 8, 2020.

This statement will reaffirm ASEAN’s vision, commitments and fundamental principles to build ASEAN into a region of peace, progress and prosperity as inspired in the 1967 ASEAN Declaration./.