(VOVWORLD) - Hundreds of high-ranking delegates from 38 economies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Southeast Asian countries are attending the Ministerial Meeting 2022 in Hanoi on Monday and Tuesday. The meeting is the initiative of Vietnam and Australia as the co-chairs of the OECD-run Southeast Asia Regional Program (SEARP).
 Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh proposes OECD-Southeast Asia cooperation to ensure stability, sustainability, equality, sharing, and mutural benefit. (Photo: Nguyen Hong/baoquocte.vn) |
A new period has come for shared prosperity and sustainable development of the OECD, an organization of mostly developed economies, and Southeast Asia, a dynamic economic region which plays a very important role in the global geo-economy and is the center of many global free trade agreements, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Closer cooperation between OECD and Southeast Asia
Since 2007 the OECD has strongly promoted cooperation with Southeast Asia, considering the region a strategic priority.
In 2014, at the initiative of Japan, the Southeast Asia Program of the OECD (SEARP) was established and became one of the OECD’s 6 regional programs. It supports economic reform of Southeast Asian countries by sharing development experience and promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in 13 cooperative fields. Both sides have recorded major cooperation achievements, which have been applauded by the international community.
 Senator Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing of Australia addresses the meeting. (Photo: baoquocte.vn) |
This year the OECD and Southeast Asia agreed to establish a business network to strengthen cooperation between their business communities and dialogues between businesses and governments of other countries to promote recovery and development in Southeast Asia.
The two sides agreed on a number of orientations on taxation, clean energy, investment policy, and consumer finance, and approved the ASEAN-OECD Cooperation Action Plan and the Vietnam-OECD Cooperation Action Plan for the next four years.
On February 9, ASEAN and the OECD signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the sidelines of the SEARP Ministerial Meeting held online and witnessed by the Program’s co-chairs, South Korea and Thailand (2018-2022 tenure) and Vietnam and Australia (2022-2025 tenure). The MoU aims to strengthen the comprehensive, inclusive, and future-oriented relationship between ASEAN and the OECD, and support implementation of the Master Plan to build the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Culture Community by 2025.
 The delegates talks on the sideline of the meeting. (Photo: baoquocte.vn) |
Vietnam’s imprint
Cooperation between the OECD and Southeast Asia has enjoyed strong contributions by Vietnam.
Vietnam has been an active member of SEARP since it was established in 2014 and always attends annual OECD regional forums. From 2016 to 2020, it collaborated with the OECD to organize a number of major events.
Vietnam's contributions to the SEARP Program were recognized when it was appointed to co-chair the Program with Australia until 2025. This is the first time Vietnam has chaired a prominent mechanism it is not a member of.
At the opening of the OECD-Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum on Monday, Secretary General Mathias Cormann said Vietnam’s co-chairing of SEARP shows the OECD’s trust in Vietnam’s capacity. Cormann praised Vietnam’s contributions to the Program as a co-chair and host of OECD activities. He promised to work with Vietnam to promote OECD-Southeast Asian cooperation and implement the OECD-ASEAN action plan.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said as co-chair of SEARP for 2022-2025, Vietnam stands ready to contribute to cooperation between the OECD and Southeast Asia in a more comprehensive, effective, practical, and sustainable manner.