(VOVworld) – Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said Vietnam is a responsible ASEAN member and has contributed significantly to the group. In an interview granted to the Voice of Vietnam to mark 20 years of ASEAN membership, he said the last 20 years had seen important steps in Vietnam’s regional and international integration. Vietnam has contributed a great deal to ASEAN’s steady development and unity in diversity: “Vietnam joined ASEAN 20 years ago. It was a wise decision by the Party and state, which created a stable, peaceful environment for national development. It was also part of Vietnam’s policy of diversifying and multilateralizing its foreign relations. Joining ASEAN was Vietnam’s first policy in its integration process. Since ASEAN, Vietnam has joined other inter-regional mechanisms including ASEM and APEC. This policy created a new ideology for external relations in international integration.”

Vietnam has contributed to formulating legal frameworks for ASEAN’s development such as the ASEAN Charter, the 2020 ASEAN Vision, the Declaration on ASEAN Concord 2, and the 2009-2015 Roadmap for an ASEAN Community. Mr. Minh said that once the ASEAN Community was established Vietnam would need to further contribute to the group’s activities to maintain a stable and peaceful environment in the region.