Embracing ASEAN has internationalised Vietnam, while Vietnam has also contributed to ASEAN’s miracle, said a Malaysian scholar on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Vietnam’s admission to the ASEAN (July 28, 1995).

Dr Hoo Chiew Ping, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies and International Relations
under the National University of Malaysia (R) during the interview (Photo: VNA) 

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency’s reporters in Malaysia, Dr Hoo Chiew Ping, Senior Lecturer in Strategic Studies and International Relations under the National University of Malaysia (UKM), said that since joining ASEAN, Vietnam has been able to maximise the benefits of the ASEAN platforms.

They include regional integration, regional identification and the political reconciliation which resulted in Vietnam’s eventual successful market and economic development, both at the intra-ASEAN and ASEAN dialogue partner levels.

She emphasised that over the decades, Vietnam has been a staunch supporter of ASEAN institutional mechanisms and contributed to strengthening strategic partnership with ASEAN dialogue partners including the US, China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, and the European Union.

The scholar added that the pandemic reveals Vietnam’s strength in health security governance and this has successfully cemented the country’s position not only within ASEAN but also a model for other regional governments around the world.

She went on to say that as ASEAN Chair, Vietnam is expected to encourage other members to invest more trust into the intra-ASEAN cooperation, as the region will be a leading pandemic response model that is to recover swiftly compared to others.

For his part, Dr Ngeow Chow Bing, Director of the Institute of China Studies at the University of Malaya said that Vietnam joining ASEAN signified a very significant change, as it began the process in which ASEAN was bringing Southeast Asian countries within a single order.

In 2020, Vietnam has been assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship in the face of COVID-19 pandemic posing detrimental impacts on the region and the world.

“Vietnam has done remarkably well in controlling the pandemic and should be congratulated so,” he said.

As the ASEAN Chair this year, the country has to suddenly prepare for the rescheduling and many other unexpected developments, and has been coping with the uncertainties. All ASEAN countries appreciate the enormous responsibilities that Vietnam has to undertake at this moment, Dr Ngeow Chow Bing noted.