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REMARKS BY H.E. MR. NGUYỄN TẤN DŨNG, PRIME MINISTER OF
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIỆT NAM
at the Special Session on East Asia
Davos, January 30, 2010
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, an East Asian Community of peace, stability, prosperity and progress is gradually
taking its shape in reality. Since 1997, regional cooperation and integration towards an East
Asian Community have been significantly enhanced under various mechanisms initiated by
ASEAN. Important outcomes are recorded in various fields, where economic cooperation and
integration are at the forefronts, acting as catalysts and fundamental platforms for the
Community building.
Economic and trade ties among regional countries have been further deepened by a network
of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. The proposals on an East Asian Free
Trade Area (EAFTA) among ASEAN+3 countries and a Comprehensive Economic
Partnership in East Asia (CEPEA) among 16 countries of the East Asian Summit (EAS) are
being considered for realization. Once established, the EAFTA alone will be the largest Free
Trade Area in the world with 2 billion people and US$ 10 trillion in GDP. Another important
area of cooperation for an East Asian Community is the improvement of infrastructure
connectivity among regional economies. ASEAN is now developing a Master Plan on ASEAN
Connectivity to connect road, rail, sea and air routes, telecom and software infrastructure
within ASEAN and beyond to East Asia. It is our vision that within the next 20-30 years, East
Asia will be a well-connected region where ASEAN plays its centrality.
In terms of mechanism, East Asian cooperation and integration are mainly conducted through
ASEAN+3 and the East Asian Summit, in which the ASEAN+3 is considered the main tool
with ASEAN at its centre and supplemented by ASEAN+1, ARF and EAS. Apart from these
architectures, a number of noteworthy initiatives have been recently proposed, namely the
Asia Pacific Community by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or an East Asian
Community by Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The year 2010 is a pivotal year for ASEAN to step up its Community building efforts. During
its ASEAN Chairmanship for 2010 with the theme of “Towards an ASEAN Community: from
vision to action”, Việt Nam will work closely with other members to effectively implement the
ASEAN Charter, and advance the programs and roadmap for Community building while
expanding and deepening the cooperation between ASEAN and its partners. Việt Nam will
also work hard to coordinate and push the ASEAN+3 and EAS cooperation. A dynamic and
closely integrated ASEAN will serve as the most important element towards the East Asian
Community. In that line, I call upon the developed partners to continue the support and
assistance to help ASEAN build its Community by 2015, especially in the efforts to narrow the
development gap and increase intra-bloc connectivity.
In my view, in 2010 and beyond, resources should be pooled in order to step up macro-policy
coordination, promote sustainable growth in the region, and maintain the economic dynamism
of Asia, with focus on the following priorities:
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First, to enhance financial and monetary cooperation, soon implement the agreement
on the Chiang Mai Initiative Multi-lateralization, and improve the resilience of banking
systems in the region. It is essential for East Asian countries to make active and
practical contributions to the reforms of international financial and monetary
institutions and global governing bodies, including the G-20. The Republic of Korea,
an East Asian nation, co-hosts the G-20 Summit this year, and this will be an
opportunity for East Asia to win a higher profile. ASEAN also looks forward to
continued participation at G-20 meetings.
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Second, it is important to push cooperation in the fields of economics, trade and
investment, increase the proportion of intra-regional trade and investment, and meet
the schedules of free trade areas between ASEAN and China, Japan, Korea, India,
Australia and New Zealand respectively. It is high time for East Asian economies to
show the strong determination to step up regional and international economic
integration, promote trade liberalization, fight against protectionism, and display an
active role to promote an early conclusion of the Doha Round.
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Third, we should work together to improve the infrastructure connectivity in order to
facilitate trade and investment as well as people-to-people exchanges. I look forward
to the support and assistance from the partners, regional and international
organizations to help ASEAN realize its Master Plan on Connectivity, which can serve
as the platform to connect East Asia.
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Fourth, it is essential to enhance cooperation in response to global challenges like
climate change, food and energy security, environmental degradation, natural
disasters and diseases. I believe that ASEAN in particular, and East Asia at large,
should take the lead in regional and international efforts against climate change. I
would propose an East Asian Forum on Climate Change where we can work closely
to develop joint regional actions. The forum might evolve into a global framework to
address this huge challenge of mankind. Việt Nam is willing to host the first meeting
of such forum in 2010.
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Fifth, the cooperation in culture, tourism, education and the academic and people-topeople exchange should be further promoted to create and nurture the mutual
understanding and trust, and improve awareness of the whole community and
regional identity. To this end, I urge Japan, China and Korea, the three pillars of East
Asia, to set up an East Asian Fund for Education and Cultural Exchange.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Many important pre-conditions for the East Asian Community are put in place. However,
due to the diversity of countries in the region, building of an East Asian Community is a
big challenge and is a time-consuming process. It is important to bear in mind and make
sure that the East Asian Community building is an inclusive process with peace, stability,
cooperation, development and common prosperity as its objectives, economic integration
as its main tool and ASEAN at its centre. Therefore, apart from pushing economic
cooperation, it is essential to promptly address issues that may affect regional security
and stability, and pay due attention to promoting confidence building measures.
Successful building of East Asian Community is also a precondition for Asia to have a
stronger voice in the international arena.
Thank you.