Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chairs the Special ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Summit video conference on COVID-19 response.

The joint statement once again underlines ASEAN’s unity. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the opening session that unity and mutual support among countries is the key to ASEAN and its partners overcoming this difficult time.

Cohesive and responsive ASEAN

So far the total number of COVID-19 infections in ASEAN is smaller and the rate of new infections is slower than the rest of the world. This success has been noticed and acknowledged by the international community.

World media has reported numerous stories of ASEAN and other countries helping each other in this time of crisis. Reuters, the Diplomat, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and many other news outlets have reported on ASEAN’s cooperation efforts, led by Vietnam as this year’s Chair, to confront COVID-19. South Korea’s Asia Today ran an article highlighting Vietnam’s role in ASEAN’s development and unity, particularly during the current global pandemic fight.

ASEAN members’ individual and collective efforts have reflected a strong spirit of “unity in diversity” and trust by people in their leaders. The COVID-19 challenge is bringing ASEAN’s members and partners together to deal with a non-traditional threat.

Vietnam keeps ASEAN coperating

Participants in the Special ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Summit on Coronavirus-Disease-2019 agreed on Vietnam’s initiatives and recommendations on sharing information about treatment methods, supporting each other with protective gear, and protecting each other’s citizens, acknowledging that only by working together will they defeat the pandemic.

Vietnam has worked continuously during this crisis to enhance unity and cooperation among the 10 ASEAN countries: on February 14 it released the ASEAN Chair’s Statement on ASEAN’s collective response to the outbreak; it initiated a special meeting of ASEAN and Chinese Foreign Ministers in Vientiane, Laos, on February 20 to discuss cooperative actions to deal with the pandemic; and it organized the recently concluded Special Summit on Coronavirus-Disease-2019.