Viet Nam will be a “responsible, active, and proactive” member of the ASEAN family which strives to enhance the regional bloc’s integration and aggressively supports the ASEAN Community-building process as well as the Community’s centrality in the evolving regional architecture.

Wood products are packaged for export

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh made the statement in his article titled “Viet Nam 2015: A proactive force for peace, stability and community-building in Southeast Asia” recently published on the weekly NewEurope in Brussels, Belgium.

He said 2015 will be the year that Viet Nam steps up and further accelerates economic reforms, with a priority on strengthening market economy institutions and streamlining bureaucracy while also engaging in broader social and political change.

As for Viet Nam’s relations with the European Union (EU), Minh affirmed that the EU is one of the most important and comprehensive partners and supporters in Viet Nam’s ongoing course of reform.

Concluding his article, he expressed optimism about Vietnam’s position as an increasingly important gateway and bridge for the EU–ASEAN relations, and through ASEAN, onward relations with the wider community of East Asian nations