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Vietnam has contributed several initiatives, making a contribution to pushing ahead the economic and trade cooperation in ASEAN, particularly the initiatives in a move to reach the goal of establishing the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015. So far Vietnam is one of the countries which have have obtained the high rate of implementation of measures and initiatives put forth in the Master Plan for AEM building.
On the sideline meetings, Minister of Industry and Trade-cum-Chairman of Vietnam’s AEC Council Vũ Huy Hoàng led the Vietnamese delegation to participate the Conference and had some bilateral contacts with the ASEAN and partner countries to discuss on the issues of the economic and trade cooperation of mutual concern.
Particularly the Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam and the Minister of Trade of Indonesia signed the Protocol on amendment of the Memorandum of Understanding on the rice buying and selling in the spirit of maintaining Vietnam’s rice market share in the Indonesian traditional market and making a contribution to raising export turnover of Vietnam to Indonesia in the coming years.
The AEM preparatory conference was attended by the ASEAN Secretary General and 10 ASEAN Economic ministers. The Vietnamese delegation to the Conference was led by Minister of Industry and Trade-cum-Chairman of Vietnam’s AEC Council Vũ Huy Hoàng. At the conference, the ministers discussed the situation on the assessment table of building the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), Phase II, the mid-term review of the Master Plan of building AEC and the contents to prepare for the 6th AEC Conference. The Conference had adopted the documents to be submitted to the ASEAN leaders, in which worthy of note was the content of the Declaration of the ASEAN 19 on the framework of equitable development in ASEAN: The principles on the equal and sustainable growth and the Declaration of ASEAN 19 on the ASEAN framework on the Agreement on the regional comprehensive economic partners.
The ASEAN framework reflects the determination to consolidate the central role of ASEAN so that the bloc will continue to be the dynamic region, attracting the trade and investment activities in the region and the world, playing a role as a guide in the process of regional integration. One of the important principles mapped out by the Framework is that ASEAN can build the Partner Agreement with the partner countries which have already had the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN as well as with some other countries. The Framework has also reaffirmed one important principle of ASEAN: it reserves the special and distinctive treatment to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in the process of discussion and building of the Agreement on the regional comprehensive economic partners.
On the other hand, the Conference also discussed the global economic prospect and reviewed the work done in implementing the measures in the direction of establishing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015 and the situation of fulfilling the Master Plan on connecting ASEAN so as to be able to report it to the ASEAN 19.
In the background of the world’s economy which is entering the difficult stage and facing the danger of reduced growth, while the time limit to complete the building of AEC is coming near, it is necessary for the ASEAN countries to push ahead their determination to carry out their commitment as mapped out by the roadmap, enhancing cooperation, sharing experience, supporting the countries with low development level in order to reach the equal growth goal in the whole bloc.
On this occasion, the ASEAN economic ministers signed the second Protocol amending the ASEAN-Korea Agreement on Trade and Goods and the Protocol on the implementation of the second services commitment package under the ASEAN-China Trade and Services Agreement. The signed documents are aimed at perfecting the legal framework for the ASEAN’s development of trade, goods and services with the partner countries./.
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