PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (fourth, L) and other ASEAN leaders at the 33rd ASEAN Summit in Singapore

 He said that, based on what has been achieved this year, ASEAN’s resilience and innovation must continue to be promoted.

PM Phuc shared Vietnam’s ideas for a regional digital platform, a cross-ASEAN mobile network, an ASEAN technology university, and a regional disaster alert system.

Mr. Phuc called recent developments in the East Sea a grave concern for countries in the region as unilateral moves could lead to a heightened risk of confrontation.

He emphasised the principles agreed upon by ASEAN, which involve respecting international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), on the peaceful settlement of disputes, exercising self-restraint, not using or threatening to use force, not militarising or complicating the situation, enhancing the building of trust, developing an effective and substantive code of conduct (COC), and fully and seriously implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

Mr. Phuc also voiced his support for ASEAN playing an active role in helping Myanmar address humanitarian issues in Rakhine State, and for efforts to promote peace, stability, and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula.

At the end of the meeting, ASEAN leaders pledged their support for Thailand, who will hold the ASEAN’s chairmanship in 2019.