(Bqp.vn) - An ASEAN flag hoisting ceremony was held in Hanoi on August 7 to mark the 53rd founding anniversary of the association and 25 years of Vietnam’s ASEAN membership. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh chaired the event, which also drew ambassadors of ASEAN member countries to Vietnam.

The flag hoisting ceremony in Hanoi. (photo: VNA)

Addressing the ceremony, Minh underlined that over the past 53 years, ASEAN has made a big step forward. By embracing 10 member nations, ASEAN has turned Southeast Asia from a land of discord to a land of concord, from confrontation to cooperation, and from poverty to dynamic development, he said.

According to Minh, chairing ASEAN this year is a great honour for Vietnam as 2020 coincides with the 25th anniversary of the country accession to ASEAN. Under Vietnam’s Chairmanship, ASEAN has taken well-coordinated measures to collectively respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, protect the health of our peoples, cushion the negative impacts on our economies, and prepare for a comprehensive recovery to emerge from the pandemic, he stressed.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and delegates at the ceremony. (photo: VNA)

He revealed that ASEAN Foreign Ministers will issue the Statement on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in Southeast Asia on the ASEAN Day of August 8, 2020.

In the context of complex and growing uncertainties in the world, this statement will reaffirm ASEAN’s vision, commitments and fundamental principles to build ASEAN into a region of peace, progress and prosperity as aspired in the 1967 Bangkok Declaration, he said.