During his remarks at the function, Dan Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission to the UN, delivered an assessment of the various activities launched over the course of the year.

In summary, the committee organised two official regular meetings, along with six dialogues with UN member states and organisations. In addition, ASEAN delivered a total of 36 joint speeches, the majority of which served to highlight the bloc’s achievements and stances on a range of issues during the UN’s key forums.

Following the launch of the Vietnamese initiative, ASEAN-UN co-operation was discussed for the first time during a UN Security Council meeting, the Vietnamese diplomat noted.

Furthermore, the country also initiated, negotiated, and pushed for the UN General Assembly’s approval on a resolution relating to ASEAN-UN co-operation, with a record number of 120 UN member states backing the decision, Quy said.

Participating representatives of ASEAN member states used the occasion to offer their congratulations to the nation on its successful chairmanship of the ASEAN committee this year, despite the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Indeed, the Vietnamese side has co-ordinated the bloc’s operations in a competent manner through a number of creative and effective suggestions.

They note that ASEAN solidarity and co-operation has been strengthened due to member states ramping up engagements, as well as backing each other’s initiatives and candidacies for posts at various UN organisations. 

Participants therefore hailed the performance of both the country and Indonesia as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, highlighting their joint work that served to enhance the image of ASEAN at the forum.

Brunei, who will serve as the chair of the committee in 2021, said it will build on the progress achieved during this year, following the country’s theme of “We Care. We Prepare. We Prosper” that was used during its year as ASEAN chair.